
Pass 'frFife 
Book J 



ANOTHER WORK ON OCCULT SPIRITISM, 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 



"ART MAGIC." 



Ghost Land; 

or, 

RESEARCHES INTO THE MYSTERIES OF OCCULT SPIRITISM, 



Being a series of autobiographical papers, with extracts 
from the records of 



Translated and edited by Emma Hardinge Britten. 



This magnificent and thrilling record of spiritual experiences was 
prepared for and commenced in the " Western Star " some four 
years ago. Since the suspension of that periodical — necessitated 
by the Boston fires — Mrs. Hardinge Britten has been repeatedly 
solicited to publish the admired and fascinating " Ghost Land " papers 
in a connected series. The great demand for another book from the 
author of " Art Magic," the earnest desire of the subscribers to that 
celebrated work to know more about its author, and the interest 
which exists at the present hour in philosophical and progressive 
views of Spiritualism, combine to induce the editor to put forth the 
present highly instructive and wonderful volume, with the special 
view of meeting the above requirements. 

Orders addressed to Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten at her residence, 
118 West Chester Park, Boston, Mass., will be promptly filled. 

Price, $3.00. Postage, 33 cents. Express charges at the pur- 
chaser's cost. Remittances to be made by P. O. Order or Registered 
Letter. 



ART MAGIC: 



on, 



Mundane, Sub - Mundane, and Super - Mundane 



SPIRITISM. 



A TREATISE IN THREE PARTS 



ON 



Art magic, natural magic, modern spiritualism, the different orders 
of spirits in the universe known to be related to or in com- 
munication with man, together with directions for 
invoking, controlling, and discharging spirits, and 
the uses and abuses, dangers and 
possibilities, of magical art. 



A few copies of this rare and splendid subscription work can be 
obtained by application to the Editor, Mrs. Hardinge Britten, 
118 West Chester Park, Boston, Mass. 

Price, $5.00. Postage, 33 cents. Remittances to be made by 
P. O. Order or Registered Letter. 



,\ 



& u* 



4* 



It 

CONTENTS. 



PART FIRST. 

PAGE. 

Author's Preface 5-7 

Editor's Introduction 9-14 

CHAPTER I. 
On the Threshold. —Author's Views. — Parentage. —First Years 

at College. — Professor Von Marx. — The Berlin Brother- i 

nooD. — First Seances 17-31 3 

CHAPTER II. i 

Secret Societies. —Magic. —The "Atmospheric Spirit." — Fly- ne 

ing Souls. — Murder, and its Results 32-44 , 

CHAPTER III. 
Constance. — The Victim. — How a Flying Soul becomes an Im- 
mortal Spirit 45-C3 

CHAPTER IV. 

ZWINGLER. — HOW TO TRACK A MURDERER 64-75 

CHAPTER V. 
Magic in England. — John Cavendish Dudley. — Occultism. — The 

Letter-Shadows of Fate 76-91 

CHAPTER VI. 
Magicians and Spirit Mediums. — Invocations. — Elementaries. — 
Planetaries. — Mirrors and Crystals. — Kobolds. — Fairies. 
— Spiritism in the Scotch Highlands 92-125 q 

CHAPTER VII t]l 

The Philosophy of Obsession. — The Astronomers and the Spirits, 126-142 iie 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Stray Wanderings. — The Fasting Girl. — The Gipsies. — The )n 

Modern "Der Frieschutz" 143-171 |y 

CHAPTER IX. e 

The Letter. — The Life Transfer. — The Bereaved . . . 172-186 ',1 

♦ i 

CHAPTER X. 

The Journey. — The Dead Professor. — How to Die of Starva- * 

tion. — The Starving Poor. — The Sun Spheres. — Dying. — , 

Metron 187-205 

CHAPTER XI. 
Tr W Awakening. — In The Spheres. — The Life transfer Ee- 

versed. — The Return to LZTrL 206-216/ 



4 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE. 

Diary of John Cavendish Dudley. — Professor von Marx's His- 
tory. — The Princess. — The Young Chevalier. — "Prospero 
and Ariel" 217-244 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Diary Continued. — Magical Seances. — The Nine Days' Trial. — 

Starved to Death. — The Rescue 245-263 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Diary Continued. — Magical Seances. — The Chevalier's Return 

to Life . . . 264-282 

CHAPTER XV. 
Diary Continued 283-293 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Diary Continued. — A Mystic. — Departure of the Chevalier . 294-305 

PART SECOND. 
Invocation.— The Soul's Litanies 309-310 

CHAPTER XVII. 
India. — Retrospect. — The Order of the Universe .... 311-322 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Angel of Midnight. — The Ruins. —Magicians. —Jugglers. — 

Chundra ud Deen 323-343 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Dawning Light. — The Brotherhood. — Subterranean Revela- 
tions 344-366 

CHAPTER XX 
Of Occultism. — Its Uses and Abuses. — Love, Marriage, Spells, 

Charms, etc 367-381 

CHAPTER XXI. 

The Angel of Morning. — Spiritual Problems Solved. — Metron, 382-401 

CHAPTER XXII. 
The Enchantress. — The Lady Blanche. — Good and Evil Angels, 402-422 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Black Magic. — Vaudooism 423-440 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Black Magic. —The Midnight Visitors —The Sacrifice . . . 441-455 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Diary of the Lady Blanche. — Vaudooism. — Farewell to Louis, 456-468 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Close of the Life Episode. — The Chevalier's Reconciliation 
with the Spirits. — The Prison. —How the Chevalier Re- 
turned to Europe. — Note . . . . . — . . . 46 , >-*6o 



* 



NE 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



Before the subjoined papers are submitted to the critical reader, 
the author desires most emphatically to protest against their being 
ranked in the same category of literature as his recently published 
volume on "Art Magic." 

The autobiographical sketches now presented to the public were 
written, or rather collated from private memoranda, some four years 
since, at the earnest request of Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, and 
that with the simple design of contributing such a series of magazine 
papers to her admirable periodical, " The Western Star," as would be 
in harmony with its general tone and design. 

When it is remembered that these papers are only off-hand sketches 
of a fateful life, in which striking illustrations of the spiritual philoso- 
phy may be found in a less stately guise than abstract essays, and 
that at most they are only to be considered as magazine sketches, the 
author trusts that his work will be held exempt from that severity of 
critical analysis which he would have courted for ' ' Art Magic " had 
it been placed before the world under similar circumstances. 

The only claim that the author can advance for the present work is 
that of strict veracity. Although the same reasons that induced him 
to withhold his name when it was first produced prevail with him 
to-day, all the incidents narrated have been faithfully set down with 
the strictest regard to truth as far as the present volume carries the 
history forward. » 

To the author himself the details of his life convey in retrospection 
the most important lessons, but their value to the world is entirely 
dependent upon their actuality. As a mere tale of fiction far more 
interesting subjects could doubtless have been found in any sensational 
novel or newspaper romance ; but if the narratives herein detailed 
faithfully represent the mystic action of mind upon mind, the fearful 
phenomenon of obsession, the possibility of an actual life transfer, 
and the interposition of beings in human affairs whose existence sup- 
plies the missing link which connects the realm of animate and inani- 



6 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

mate nature, then is this work, however crude in style or imperfect in 
philosophical deduction, a most important and noteworthy one. 

It is because it ought to be thus regarded, because it narrates step 
by step and incident by incident, actualities which may one daj T become 
the experience of the many rather than the few, that the author is 
again persuaded to brave the idle sneer and vulgar jeer of those who 
are only capable of appreciating the facts that may have come within 
the narrow circle of their own observation. That those persons who 
call themselves ' { spiritual teachers " and claim to be " interpreters 
and exponents " of the spiritual philosophy (?) have not all the truth 
— nay, not even a tithe of the experience necessar}^ to qualify them 
for the office they have assumed — becomes more and more painfully 
evident to the earnest student into spiritual mysteries the more he 
compares the immensity of the realms to be traversed with the shallow 
pretences at explanation put forth by the self-elected spiritual teachers 
of this generation. 

By these great authorities occultion is assumed to be a word invented 
b} T a few individuals, whose chief aim is to destroy Spiritualism and 
substitute-" black magic" in its place, whilst occultists are renegades, 
who would " roll back the car of progress" (a favorite expression, by 
the waj T , of those who deny the right of any one to progress beyond 
their own standard of knowledge) and presume to add to the sublime 
philosophy enunciated through the table-tipping and trance-speaking 
media for " spirits of the seventh sphere," the antiquated stuff of Orien- 
tal cabalists, Chaldean astrologists, Hindoo, Eg3^tian, and Persian 
magi, Greek philosophers, Arabian alchemists, and mediaeval Rosicrucian 
mystics. Of course all these are mere ignoramuses, who for thousands 
of years have been blundering through the mysteries of occult science, 
which the aforesaid table-tipping and seventh-sphere-inspiring spirits 
instantfy sweep away with the knock-down argument of ' ' What I don't 
know is n't true ; and what I can not explain has no existence." 

That the author of " Ghost Land" has attempted to explain occul- 
tion, or present a concrete scheme of occult philosophy in these pages, 
must not for one moment be assumed. He has simply introduced such 
scenes in his own life experience as will show what a vast amount of 
phenomena remain to be explained, which the spiritual philosophy of 
the present day has not touched, and which many modern Spiritists, 
following out the rude and illogical example of their own materialistic 
opponents, find it easier to deny altogether than to elucidate. Xo one 
has more faithfully, humbly, and reverently sought for truth wherever 
it may be found than the author of " Ghost Land" ; yet he is fain to 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 7 

confess the table-tipping and trance-inspiring spirits of America and 
England have not, to his blundering apprehension, covered the whole 
ground of the experiences which he has ventured to detail in this 
volume. When he adds that an additional score of years' experiences 
still more wonderful and occult yet remain to be accounted for, and 
that during his wide wanderings over the world he has encountered 
hundreds of individuals who have an array of equally occult testimony 
to render, the IUuminee of the modern spiritual movement may for- 
give him if he ventures to question whether there may not be some 
few things, scenes, and persons more in the spiritual universe than 
their seven spheres of purely human intelligence can account for. 

The author could have wished that his esteemed editor had dis- 
pensed with the chapters interpolated by their mutual and highly val- 
ued friend, "John Cavendish Dudley" ; not that any portion of this 
gentleman's writings are lacking in that strict fidelity to truth which 
has been the ruling genius of the entire work, whilst in style and 
interest they far surpass the attempts of a foreigner to express his 
ideas in an unfamiliar language ; but the author has marked with deep 
regret the many eulogistic allusions to himself with which Mr. Dud- 
lej's diary is seasoned ; and whilst he knows they are dictated in all 
sincerity by a too partial friend, he feels their association with auto- 
biographical sketches will subject him to a charge of vanity which is 
equally repulsive to his habits of thought and action. On this point 
he has no other excuse to offer than the all-potential will of his editor. 
Mrs. Hardinge Britten alleges that the diary of Mr. Dudley was given 
to her in the same unconditional spirit as the ' ' Ghost Land " papers ; 
also, that it was not until she came to examine the MSS. separately 
that she discovered how intimately they were related and how impos- 
sible it would have been to continue the narrative after the eleventh 
chapter without the assistance of Mr. Dudley's journal. 

When Mrs. Hardinge Britten further added I will to I wisJi, the 
author of " Art Magic," himself the strongest possible pleader for the 
omnipotence of will, found all his arguments on the per contra of the 
question silenced. 

With a final allegation that though the style of composition is all 
too faulty, the details are a faithful representation of facts known to 
and witnessed by many most honorable persons in the present genera- 
tion, the author gives his work to the winds of public opinion. Blow 
hot or cold as the} 7, will, they only represent the source from whence 
they come, but can not make or mar the work they ban or bless. 

PlTEKTES GRANDES, 

The Havana, Isle de Cuba, 1876. 



INTRODUCTION 



By the Editor. 



The following series of papers was first prepared for the press in 
1872, when a few ladies and gentlemen interested in the cause of 
Spiritualism, and believing its interests would be promoted by the 
publication of a high-toned periodical, agreed to sustain me in the 
production of " The Western Star," a magazine issued expressly to 
meet the above design. As soon as I had decided upon the expe- 
diency of this undertaking I applied to several European friends from 
whom I deemed I might obtain literary assistance of the highest value, 
and contributions which would be more fresh to my American readers 
than those of the writers on this side of the Atlantic. 

The foremost and perhaps the most urgent applications I made were 
addressed to two gentlemen from whose friendship for me and their 
talent as writers I anticipated the most favorable results. I knew 
that both had enjoyed rare opportunities of research into the realms 
of spiritual existence. 

One, whom I shall henceforth speak of as the Chevalier de B , 

was, as I well knew, a member of several Oriental and European 
societies, where he had enjoyed the privilege of initiation into the 
ancient mysteries, and opportunities for the study of occultism rarely 
open to modern investigators. I had myself witnessed many evi- 
dences of this gentleman's wonderful powers as a seer and adept in 
magical rites, no less than what is now called " mediumship," for 
every conceivable phase of spirit power. Already familiar with many 
of his remarkable experiences, and believing I could obtain still further 
information on the subject from his intimate and near connexion, an 
English nobleman, to whom I give the nom de plume of John Caven- 
dish Dudle} 7 , I laid my case before both parties, soliciting from them 
such a series of papers as would embody their joint experiences in 
Spiritualism without impinging upon any points they might desire to 
reserve from the public eye. The cordial response which I obtained 
from these well-tried and valued friend^ was accompanied, however, 
with some restrictions, the most important of which was the positive 
charge to withhold their names, also to arrange their MSS. under such 



10 INTRODUCTION, 

veiled expressions as would effectually conceal their identity. Both 
gentlemen were aware that their personalities would be recognized by 
their own immediate circle of acquaintances should the narratives ever 
fall into such hands ; but whilst they were most willing to oblige me, 
and deemed their remarkable experiences might benefit and instruct 
many a spiritualistic reader, they protested strongly against subjecting 
themselves to the rude criticism and cold infidelic sneers of an 
unsympathetic world. 

1 ' I would not wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at," 
said nry English friend, in the words of the immortal bard of Avon ; 

whilst the Chevalier de B urged private and personal reasons still 

more stringent. To mask the identity of my authors then, and even 
maintain a strict incognito for all those associated with them, became 
the conditions upon which the terms of my editorship in these papers 
were founded. 

Less, perhaps, with a view of enlightening a generation which is 
not alwa} T s prepared to recognize its need of enlightenment, than with 
a desire to embellish my periodical with a series of papers which I 
deemed eminently worthy of the place assigned them, I cheerfully 
accepted the offer of my two friends, subject to the restrictions they 
; laid upon me. On examining the MSS. committed to my charge, I 
found that I could commence the publication of the Chevalier de 

B 's papers in a serial entitled "Ghost Land," and from the mass 

of records furnished me by Mr. JVC. Dudley I extracted the humor- 
ous and racy description of that gentleman's experiences in America, 
to which he had given the caption of "Amongst the Spirits." The 
autobiographical sketches of the Chevalier were written originally in 
German, but as I was not sufficiently familiar with that language to 
read -or translate it, my kind friend, himself an excellent linguist, 
engaged to furnish me with a literal translation, — that is, to render 
his writings into "rough English," and leave to me the task of 
arranging the phraseology and construction of the sentences. In 
many '. instances I found this task unnecessary, although in others I 
have had much labor in re-transcribing, arranging, and compiling 
fraginentar}' memoranda, written not unfrequently in French or imper- 
fect English. 

As I proceeded with my work, I found that the MSS. would be 
wholly incomplete without that of Mr. Dudle}^, and as I had the good 
fortune to be in possession of. the latter's journal, I selected from it 
such chapters relating to the Chevalier as supplied the hiatus in ques- 
tion, and enabled me to form a consecutive narrative of that gentle- 
man's singular and eventful career. 



INTBODUCTIOIT. 11 

I encountered some opposition from both my friends in this course 
of procedure, the Chevalier objecting strongly to the eulogistic tone 
adopted by his friend in reference to himself, and Mr. Dudley urging 
me to say more on the same subject than I deemed it prudent to 
insert. Another and still graver difficulty in my path has been the 
necessity of transcribing a foreigner's ideas and statements to a con- 
siderable extent in my own language, and clothing thoughts, opinions, 
and even the framework of the dialogues given by the author in my 
own form of expression. I feel keenly the loss the reader must sus- 
tain in many instances by this infusion of my personality into the 
author's sublime and exalted ideality. I am aware, also, what a han- 
dle it affords to those untruthful and uncandid critics who see them- 
selves in others' acts, and who, being naturally deceptive and tricky 
themselves, cannot recognize truth and honesty even when it stares 
them in the face. 

Although I have been and shall be again, induced from the force of 

circumstances to mask the noble sentiments of the Chevalier de B 

in nry own peculiarities of style, I have in vain labored to persuade 
him to place 'his works in other hands or avail himself of a less pro- 
nono.ee style of compilation. Had I not devoted myself to this work 
it would never have been accomplished, and that thought has been my 
chief recompense for the slander and misrepresentation that has been 
cast on my share of the publication. Although nxy friend's courtesy 
has induced him to treat these misrepresentations lightly, and even to 
allege that he felt honored in hearing the authorship of his works 
attributed to me, such a slander upon him, no less than the wrong 
done to my veracity and the character for straightforward candor 
which I deemed my life had earned, has been the worst stab nry ene- 
mies could have inflicted upon me, and calls for this explanation con- 
cerning the necessary share which I have had in characterizing the 
Chevalier de B 's writings. 

In view of the stringent charge I received from each of my authors, 
not only to preserve their incognito, but even to represent an ideal 
personage as the vehicle of the thoughts rendered, I drew up an intro- 
ductorjr sketch of the supposed author of "Ghost Land," which I 
printed in the first number of " The Western Star." 

In becoming more familiar with the later portions of the autobiog- 
raphy, I found that the author had stated the real events of his life so 
candidly, and alluded to the various dates and epochs that marked it 
with such fidelity of detail, that my ideal sketch had to be abandoned ; 
the two histories would not cohere together : hence in republishing the 
first five chapters of " Ghost Land" in their present form I have felt 



12 INTBODVCTIOK. 

obliged to present the author in his real character from beginning to 
end ; and although I have observed all the other restrictions laid upon 
me in respect* to the names of persons and places, the incidents of this 
strange life are so true, so candidly and simply detailed, that I doubt 
whether the lovers of fiction will be able to recognize that truth, and 
I shall not be surprised to hear that the whole narrative is a made- 
up affair. 

I have some reason to believe this view would not be displeasing to 
the author himself, who, although compelled to write under the efflatus 
of the same power that obliges the ' ' sibyl to vaticinate " even when 
she is not believed in, still feels sensitively opposed to parading his 
peculiar and often most painful personal experiences before a hard, 
unkind, and unsympathetic world. I, on the contrary, have a deep 
and religions interest in urging the exact truth of these experiences, and 
as I have been mainly instrumental in inducing my friend to narrate 
them, I would gladly, most gladly, add the lustre of a far more 
authoritative name than my own to the solemn assurance that they are 
all literal transcripts of history, and that they ought to be studied and 
classified by every philosophic thinker as amongst the rarest and most 
important psj^chological facts on record. 

It simply remains for me to explain how and wiry this autobiography 
appears at this particular time. I need not remind those of my read- 
ers who may have been subscribers to " The Western Star," that just 
after the issue of the sixth number, the occurrence of the disastrous 
Boston fires and the immense losses sustained by some of my princi- 
pal supporters, compelled me to suspend that periodical ; but immedi- 
ately upon the announcement of this suspension and up to the present 
time I have been literally besieged with requests to issue a reprint and 
continuance of " Ghost Land," my correspondents assuring me that 
those delightful and absorbing papers were more to them than all the 
rest of the magazine. The same request has been repeatedly made 
in reference to the articles of Mr. Dndle} r , entitled "Amongst the 
Spirits." In a word, the high appreciation accorded to those two 
serials made me often regret that leisure and opportunit} r were not 
afforded me for their publication in separate and continuous forms. 

It was some three } r ears after the suspension of " The Western 

Star" that my esteemed friend, the Chevalier de B , made a second 

visit to the United States, travelling as was his custom in a private 
and unostentatious manner under an incognito, and emplojing his time 
in the observation and study of those spiritualistic facts which it has 
been the main object of his life to gather up. It was then that I 
learned from him that two works, the scheme of which he had often 



INTRODUCTION. 1 



o 



laid out in project to me, were nearly completed ; and as he was unable 
to undertake the fatigue and master the harassing details of their 
publication, he offered to present me with the MSS., although he 
wished that their production should be deferred for a stated period. 

One of the MSS. thus intrusted to me was " Art Magic." It was 
written, like " Ghost Land," partly in French and partly rendered into 
English, for the sake of aiding me in its translation. Much of the 
language I found capable of representing the author's ideas without 
any alteration ; but the whole work struck me as so important, sub- 
lime, and. beautiful that I urged upon my friend its immediate produc- 
tion without waiting for further contingencies. 

Tendering all the services I deemed likely to be available on the 
occasion, I at last succeeded in overcoming the Chevalier's reticence, 
and provided that I would give it to the world under the conditions 
which he dictated, he said the work was at my disposal. My friend 
then laid down those conditions of publication which have called forth 
the clouds of abuse, scandal, and insult which it has been my privilege 
to endure in so good a cause, and I dictated the financial terms by 
which I had hoped to save him from loss. In this respect the 
results belong to ourselves, not to the world. It is enough that I 
have been instrumental in launching a noble work upon the ocean of 
human thought. Many a bitter experience has been added to those 
which both author and editor have had to endure, many that might 
have been more gracefully spared by those who inflicted them. The 
effect of these experiences, however, it may not be amiss to notice a 
little more in detail, for it is evident they have not fulfilled the exact 
purpose with which they were freighted. In the first place, they have 
taught the sensitive author to rise superior to all human opinion, by 
showing him that which the editor has long since understood, namely, 
that there is always a certain amount of journalistic criticism which 
can be bought or sold, according to the purchaser's disposition or means 
of payment ; another class from which praise would be dishonor ; still 
another, who never waste time one way or the other on any subject 
that is not a marketable commodity and likely to pay well; and a 
fourth class, but one alas ! greatly in the minority, who can and will 
recognize truth and beauty wherever they find it : and to this class 
'" Art Magic" has indeed been " the gem of spiritualistic effort of this' 
and every other generation." 

All this the author has had to learn. That he was not entirely 
ignorant of the crucible through which his work would have had to 
pass had it been published for " the masses" instead of the few, he 
himself proved, as I find in a letter addressed to me on this very sub- 



14 INTBODTJCTION. 

jeet the following complimentary expressions of opinion concerning the 
4 ' great public " : — 

" The masses, to whom you so enthusiastically would have me com- 
mend the perusal of ' Art Magic,' ever halt between two horns of a 
dilemma. If you tell them what they do not already know, they will 
crj', ( T\ r e can not understand this writer ! ' If 3-ou repeat old truths, 
no matter how new may be your methods of representation, they will 
scream against you for telling them nothing new ; and herein lies the 
real power of the critic, which is just to tell the world, according to 
his own personal predilections, what that poor imbecile thing ought to 
believe or reject, exalt to the skies or trample in the dust." 

I have learned something as well as the author in this publication, 
for despite the infamous slanders of one part of a press calling itself 
"spiritual," and the significant silence of others, the subscribers to 
this work have in general been of that class which bravely and boldly 
takes the task of thinking into its own hands ; hence they have not 
only written to me in the most glowing and enthusiastic praise of this 
" g*eat and sublime work," but they have insisted upon having some- 
thing more from the same ' ' facile and fascinating pen." 

Now, although this gentleman has submitted to me the rough draft 
of a still more elaborate exposition of the subjects on which ' ' Art 
Magic " treats than even that admirable work itself, it may be some 
time before it can be completed and ready for press. In the interim 
the continued demand for " another work from the same author" 
induces me to turn my attention to the long-promised continuation of 
"Ghost Land," the deeply interesting and instructive character of 
which is fulty equal to "Art Magic"; and besides, I am still more 
inclined to pursue this course from the very natural and spontaneous 
desire of many readers to know more about the gifted individual who 
wrote "Art Magic. That these autobiographical sketches will prove 
as acceptable as they are instructive I can not doubt, and I once more 
commend them to the reader with the assurance that, though the truths 
in these pages are, as truth generally is, stranger than fiction, I 
respect myself and my friend too highly to apologize further for the 
fact that some of those truths ma}' be unprecedented, hence difficult of 
realization. 

I now commit the precious MSS. intrusted to me to the tender 
mercies of a world of which my respectful but candid opinion may be 
gathered from the aphorism which has been my life's motto, and the 
one which has urged me forward to the publication of this volume, 
namely, ' ' The truth against the world ! " 

Boston, 1876. EMMA HARDINGE BRITTEN. 



PART I. 



The Neophyte 



Ghost land 



CHAPTEE I. 

ON THE THRESHOLD 

As the sole object of these sketches has been to pre- 
sent to the investigator into spiritual mysteries some 
experiences of a singular and exceptional character, I 
would gladly have recorded them as isolated facts, or 
even communicated their curious details to such Spiritu- 
alistic journalists as might have deemed them worthy of 
a place in then columns; but on attempting to arrange 
them in such a form as would accord with this design, 
I found it impossible to separate the phenomenal por- 
tions of the history from the person with whom they 
were most immediately connected. 

Had I been a mere spectator of the scenes detailed, I 
could have easily reduced them to narrative form, but as 
in most instances I was either the "medium" througii 
whom the phenomena worthy of record transpired, or 
their interest was derived from then association with 
a consecutive history, I found I must either relinquish 
the design of contributing my experiences to the world, 
or consent to the repulsive task of identifying them with 
one who has sufficient reason to shrink from publicity, 
and sighs for nothing so much as the peaceful retirement 
which should precede the last farewell to earth. As my 
own desires have been completely overruled by one whose 



18 GHOST LAND. 

wishes I gladly prefer to my own, I find myself either 
obliged to identify my Spiritualistic experiences with a 
fictitious personage, or accept the repulsive alternative 
of adding to the many characters I have been compelled 
to act out on the stage of life's tragic drama the unwel- 
come one of an autobiographer. 

For many reasons unnecessary to detail, I have a spe- 
cial dislike to tales of fiction. Life is all too real, too 
thoroughly momentous, to be travestied by fictional rep- 
resentations. Truth appeals to the consciousness of true 
natures with much more earnestness than fiction; and 
Spiritualistic narratives in particular, as pointing the way 
on a new path of discovery, and one wherein the eternal 
interests of the race are concerned, are simply degraded 
by fictional contrivances. Even the too common ten- 
dency to exaggerate the marvels of Spiritualistic phe- 
nomena should be carefully avoided, for the sake of 
arriving at the heart of truths so important and unfa- 
miliar as those which relate to the spiritual side of man's 
nature. 

It is with these reverential views of truth that I enter 
upon the task of narrating my singular and exceptional 
experiences. The only departure I have permitted my- 
self to make from the line of stern and ungarbled fact 
is, in relation to my own identity and that of the persons 
associated with me. My reasons for suppressing my real 
name, and in every possible way veiling the identity of 
those connected with me, are imperative, and if fully 
understood would be fully appreciated. In all other 
respects I am about to enter upon a candid history of 
myself, so far as I am connected with the incidents I 
am required to detail. 

My father was a Hungarian nobleman, but having 
deemed himself wronged by the ruling government of 



GHOST LAND. 19 

his country, he virtually renounced it, and being con- 
nected on the mother's side with one of the most pow- 
erful native princes of India, from whom he received 
tempting offers of military and official distinction, he 
determined to prepare himself for his new career by the 
requisite course of study in England; hence, the belief 
very generally prevailed that he was an English officer, 
an opinion strengthened by the fact that for many years 
he abandoned his title, and substituted for the rank which 
he had once held in his native country that which was 
to him far more honorable, namely, a military distinction 
won on the battle-fields of India by services of the most 
extraordinary gallantry. Before his departure for the 
East my father had married a beautiful Italian lady, 
and as he resolved to maintain his Hungarian title and 
estates, barren as they were, for the benefit of his 
children, he left his eldest son, my only brother, in Aus- 
tria, for education, in the charge of near relatives. I 
was born on the soil of Hindostan shortly after my 
parents arrived there, and as my eldest brother died 
when I was about ten years of age, I was sent to Europe 
to take his place, receive a European education, and 
become formally installed into the empty dignity, title, 
and heirship of our Hungarian estates. As my poor 
father tenaciously adhered to these shadowy dignities 
for his children, even though he despised and rejected 
them for himself, I was accustomed from early child- 
hood to hear myself addressed as the Chevalier de 
B- — ■— , and taught to believe, when my brother died, 
I had become the heir of a noble house, the prerogatives 
of which I have never realized, except in the form of 
the same wrong, oppression, and political tyranny which 
made my father an alien and a professed subject of a 
foreign power. 



20 GHOST LAND. 

I was about twelve years of age, as well as I can 
remember, when, returning one clay late in the afternoon 
from the college I attended at B., just as I was about 
to enter the gate of the house where I boarded, I felt 
a hand laid on my shoulder, and looking round, I saw 
myself confronted with one of my teachers, a man who, 
during the period of my ten months' study in that place, 
had exerted a singular and irresistible influence over me. 
He was a professor of Oriental languages, and though 
I had not been regularly entered in his class, I had 
joined it because he one day suddenly asked me to do 
so, and I as suddenly felt impelled to accept his offer. 
From the very moment that I entered Professor von 
Marx's class, I became absorbed in the study of East- 
ern literature, and the proficiency I made was doubtless 
owing to my desire to master the subjects to which 
these Oriental tongues formed the key. On the morn- 
ing of the day from which I commence my narrative, 
Professor von Marx had abruptly asked me if I were 
a dreamer. I replied in the negative, adding that I 
thought I often dreamed something, but the memory 
of what it might be only remained with me on awaking 
sufficiently long to impress me with the opinion that I 
had been somewhere in my sleep, but had forgotten 
where. "When the professor touched me on the shoul- 
der, as above mentioned, at my own doorstep, he said, — 

"Louis, my boy, how would you like to have some 
dreams that you could remember, and go to places in 
your sleep from which you should return and give 
accounts of?" 

" O professor ! " I exclaimed, in astonishment, K could 
I do this, and how?" * 

" Come with me, boy," -replied my teacher. w I belong 
to a philosophical society, the existence or at least the 



GHOST LAND. 21 

real nature of which is but little known. We want the 
aid of a good smart lad, like you, especially one who is 
not a conscious dreamer. I have long had my eye 
upon you, and I think I can not only trust you with our 
secrets, but, by making you a partaker of them, instruct 
you in lore of great wisdom, which few children of your 
age would be thought worthy to know." 

Flattered by this confidence, and more than usually 
thrilled by the strange shivering which always seemed 
to follow the touch of the professor's hand, I suffered 
myself to be led on until I reached with him the fourth 
story of a large house in a very quiet part of the city, 
where I was speedily introduced into an apartment of 
spacious dimensions, parted off by screens and curtains 
into many subdivisions, and half filled with an assem- 
blage of gentlemen, several of whom, to my surprise, 
I recognized as belonging to the college, some to neigh- 
boring literary institutions, and two others as members 
of one of the princely families of Germany. 
• There was an air of mystery and caution attending 
our entrance into this place and my subsequent intro- 
duction to the company, which inclined me to believe 
that this was a meeting of one of those secret societies 
that, young as I was, I knew to have been strictly for- 
bidden by the government; hence the idea that I was 
making one of an illegal gathering impressed me with 
a sentiment of fear and a restless desire to be gone. 
Apparently these unexpressed feelings were understood 
by my teacher, for he addressed me in a low voice, 
assuring me that I was in the society of gentlemen of 
honor and respectability, that my presence there had 
only been solicited to assist them in certain philosophi- 
cal experiments they were conducting, and that I should 
soon find cause to congratulate myself that I had been 



22 GHOST LAND. 

so highly favored as to be inducted into their associa- 
tion. 

Whilst he spoke the professor laid his hand on my 
head, and continued to hold it there, at first with a 
seemingly slight and accidental pressure; but ere he 
had concluded his address, the weight of that hand 
appeared to me to increase to an almost unendurable 
extent. Like a mountain bearing down upon my shoul- 
ders, columns of fiery, cloud-like matter seemed to 
stream from the professor's fingers, enter my whole 
being, and finally crush me beneath their terrific force 
into a state where resistance, appeal, or even speech 
was impossible. A vague feeling that death was upon 
me filled my bewildered brain, and a sensation of an 
undefinable yearning to escape from a certain thraldom 
in which I believed myself to be held, oppressed me 
with agonizing force. At length it seemed as if this 
intense longing for liberation was gratified. I stood, 
and seemed to myself to stand, free of the professor's 
crushing hand, free of my body, free of every clog or 
chain but an invisible and yet quite tangible cord 
which connected me with the form I had worn, but 
which now, like a garment I had put off, lay sleeping in 
an easy-chair beneath me. As for my real self, I stood 
balanced in air, as I thought at first, about, four feet 
above and a little on one side of my slumbering mortal 
envelope; presently, however, I perceived that I was 
treading on a beautiful crystalline form of matter, pure 
and transparent, and hard as a diamond, but sparkling, 
bright, luminous, and ethereal. There was a wonderful 
atmosphere, too, surrounding me on all sides. Above 
and about me, it was discernible as a radiant, sparkling 
mist, enclosing my form, piercing the walls and ceiling, 
and permitting my vision to take in an almost illimitable 



GHOST LAND. 23 

area of space, including the city, fields, plains, moun- 
tains, and scenery, together with the firmament above 
my head, spangled with stars, and irradiated by the soft 
beams of the tranquil moon. All this vast realm of 
perception opened up before me in despite of the enclos- 
ing walls, ceiling, and other obstacles of matter which 
surrounded me. These were obstacles no more. I saw 
through them as if they had been thin air; and what is 
more I knew I could not only pass through them with 
perfect ease, but that any piece of ponderable matter in 
the apartment, the very furniture itself, if it were only 
brought into the solvent of the radiant fire mist that 
surrounded me, would dissolve and become, like me 
and like my atmosphere, so soluble that it could pass, 
just as I could, through everything material. I saw, 
or seemed to see, that I was now all force; that I 
was soul loosed from the body save by the invisible 
cord which connected me with it; also, that I was in 
the realm of soul, the soul of matter; and that as my 
soul, and the soul-realm in which I had now entered, 
was the real force which kept matter together, I could 
just as easily break the atoms apart and pass through 
them as one can put a solid body into the midst of 
water or air. 

Suddenly it seemed to me that I would try this newly 
discovered power, and observing that the college cap 
I had worn on my poor lifeless body's head was lying 
idly in the hands, I made an effort to reach it. To suc- 
ceed, however, I found I must come into contact with a 
singular kind of blue vapor which for the first time I 
noticed to be issuing from my body, and surrounding it 
like a second self. 

Whilst I was gazing at this curious phenomenon I felt 
impressed to look at the other persons in the room, and 



24 GHOST LAND. 

I then observed that a similar aura or luminous se t>n»l 
self issued from every one of them. The color and den- 
sity of each one varied, and by carefully regarding the 
nature of these mists, or as I have since learned to call 
them w photospheres," I could correctly discern the char- 
acter, motives, and past lives of these individuals. 

I became so deeply absorbed in tracing the images, 
shapes, scenes, and revelations that were depicted on 
these men's souls that I forgot my design of appropriat- 
ing the cap I had worn, until I noticed that the emana- 
tions of Professor von Marx, assuming the hue of a 
shining rose tint, seemed to permeate and commingle 
with the bluish vapor that issued from my form. I no- 
ticed then another phenomenon. When the two vapors 
or photospheres were thoroughly commingled, they too 
became force, like my soul and like the realm of soul in 
which I was standing. To perceive, in the state into 
which I was inducted, was to see, hear, taste, smell, and 
understand all things in one new sense. I knew that as 
a mortal I could not use more than one or two of the 
senses at a time ; but as a soul, I could realize all sensa- 
tions through one master sense, perception; also, that 
this sublime and exalted sixth sense informed me of far 
more than all which the other senses separately could 
have done. Suddenly a feeling of triumph possessed 
me at the idea of knowing and understanding so much 
more than the grave and learned professors into whose 
company I had entered as a timid, shrinking lad, but 
whom I now regarded with contempt, because their 
knowledge was so inferior to mine, and pity, because 
they could not conceive of the new functions and con- 
sequent enjoyments that I experienced as a liberated 
soul. 

There was another revelation impressed upon me at 



GHOST LAND. 25 

that time, and one which subsequent experiences have 
quickened into stupendous depths of consciousness. It 
was this : I saw, as I have before stated, upon my com- 
panions, in distinct and vivid characters, the events of 
their past lives and the motives which had prompted 
them to their acts. ~Now it became to me clear as sun- 
light that one set of motives were wrong, and another 
right; and that one set of actions (those prompted by 
wrong motives, I mean) produced horrible deformities 
and loathsome appearances on the photosphere, whilst 
the other set of actions (prompted by the motives which 
I at once detected as right) seemed to illuminate the 
soul aura with indescribable brightness, and cast a 
halo of such beauty and radiance over the whole being, 
that one old man in particular, who was of a singularly 
uncomely and withered appearance as a mortal, shone, 
as a soul, in the light of his noble life and glorious ema- 
nations, like a perfect angel. I could now write a folio 
volume on the interior disclosures which are revealed to 
the soul's eye, and which are hidden away or unknown 
to the bodily senses. I cannot pause upon them now, 
though I think it would be well if we would write many 
books on this subject, provided men would read and 
believe them. In that case, I feel confident, human 
beings would shrink back aghast and terror-stricken 
from crime, or even from bad thoughts, so hideous do 
they show upon the soul, and so full of torment and 
pain does the photosphere become that is charged with 
evil. I saw in one very fine gentleman's photosphere 
the representation of all sorts of the most foul and dis- 
gusting reptiles. These images seemed to form, as it 
were, out of his misty emanations, whilst upon his soul 
I perceived sores and frightful marks that convinced 
me he was not only a libertine and a sensualist, but a 



26 GHOST LAND. 

man imbued with many base and repulsive traits of 
character. 

What I saw that night made me afraid of crime, 
afraid to cherish bad thoughts or harbor bad motives, 
and with all my faults and shortcomings in after life, I 
have never forgotten, or ceased to try and live out, the 
awful lessons of warning I then learned. I must here 
state that what may have taken me some fifteen min- 
utes or more to write, flashed upon my perceptions 
nearly all at once, and its comprehension, in much fuller 
detail than I have here given, could not have occupied 
more than a few seconds of time to arrive at. 

By this time, that at which I now write, w clairvoy- 
ance," as the soul's perceptions are called, has become 
too common a faculty to interest the world much by its 
elaborate description. Thirty or forty years ago it was 
too much of a marvel to obtain general credit; but I 
question whether those who then watched its powers 
and properties did not study them with more profound 
appreciation and understanding than they do now, when 
it seems to be a gift cultivated for very little use be- 
yond that of affording a means of livelihood, and too 
frequently opens up opportunities of deception for the 
quack doctor or pretended fortune-teller. But to re- 
sume my narrative. 

I had not been long free from the fetters of my sleep- 
ing body and the professor's magical hand, when he 
bent down over my form and said, — 

w Louis, I will you to remember all that transpires 
in the mesmeric sleep; also, I desire that you should 
speak, and relate to us, as far as you can, all that you 
now see and hear." 

In an instant the wish of my childish life, the one in- 
cessant yearning that possessed my waking hours, re- 



GHOST LAND. 27 

turned to me, namely, the desire to behold my dearly 
loved mother, from whom I had been separated for the 
past two years. With the flash of my mother's image 
across my mind, I seemed to be transported swiftly 
across an immense waste of waters', to behold a great 
city, wiiere strange-looking buildings were discernible, 
and where huge domes, covered with brilliant metals, 
flashed in a burning, tropical sun. Whirled through 
space, a thousand new and wondrous sights gleamed a s 
moment before my eyes, then vanished. Then I found 
myself standing beneath the shade of a group of tall 
palm-trees, gazing upon a beautiful lady who lay 
stretched upon a couch, shaded by the broad verandah 
of a stately bungalow, whilst half a dozen dusky fig- 
ures, robed in white, with bands of gold around their 
bare arms and ankles, waved immense fans over her, 
and seemed to be busy in ministering to her refresh- 
ment. w Mother, mother ! " I cried, extending my arms 
towards the well-known image of the being dearest to 
me on earth. As I spoke, I could see that my voice 
caused no vibration in the air that surrounded my 
mother's couch; still the impression produced by my 
earnest will affected her. I saw a light play around 
her head, which, strange to relate, assumed my exact 
form, shape, and attitude, only that it was a singularly 
petite miniature resemblance. As it flickered over the 
sensorium, she raised her eyes from her book, and fixing 
them upon the exact point in space where I stood, mur- 
mured, in a voice that seemed indescribably distant, 
" My Louis ! my poor, far-away, deserted child ! would 
I could see thee now." 

At this moment the will of my magnetizer seemed to 
intervene between me and my unexpected vision. 

I caught his voice saying in stern tones, "Do not 



28 GHOST LAND. 



interfere, Ilcrr Eschenmayer. I do not wish him to see 
his mother, and the tidings he could bring from her 
would not interest us." 

Some one replied ; for I felt that the professor listened, 
though for some cause unknown to me then, I could not 
hear any voice but his. Again he spoke and. said, "I 
wish him to visit our society at Hamburgh, and bring us 
some intelligence of what they are doing there." As the 
words were uttered, I saw for one brief second of time 
my mother's form, the couch whereon she lay, the veran- 
dah, bungalow, and all the objects that surrounded her, 
turn upside-down, like forms seen in a reversed mirror, 
and then the whole scene changed. Cities, villages, 
roads, mountains, valleys, oceans, flitted before my gaze, 
crowding up their representation in a single instant of 
time, and ending their panoramic delineation in a large 
and splendidly furnished chamber, not unlike the one I 
had entered with the professor. 

I perceived that I was at Hamburgh, in the house of 
the Baron von S., and that he and a party of gentlemen 
were seated around a table on which were drinking cups, 
each filled with some hot, ruby-colored liquid, from which 
a fragrant, herb-like odor was exhaled. Several crystal 
globes were on the table, also some plates of dark, shining 
surfaces, together with a number of open books, some in 
print, others in MSS., and others again whose pages were 
covered with characters of an antique form, and highly 
illuminated. As I entered, or seemed borne into this 
apartment, a voice exclaimed, " A messenger from Herr 
von Marx is here, a ? Hying soul,' one who will carry the 
promised word to our circle in B." 

" Question him, " responded another voice. w "What 
tidings or message does he bring?" 

"He is a new recruit, no adept in the sublime sci- 



GHOST LAND. 29 

ences," responded the first speaker, "and cannot be 
depended on." 

w Let me speak with him, " broke in a voice of singu- 
larly sweet tone and accent; and thereupon I became 
able to fix my perceptive sense so clearly on this last 
speaker that I fully realized who and what he was, and 
how situated. I observed that he stood immediately 
beneath a large mirror suspended against the wall, and 
set in a circular frame covered with strange and caba- 
listic looking characters. A dark velvet curtain was 
undrawn and parted on either side of the mirror, and in 
or on, I cannot tell which, its black and highly polished 
surface, I saw a miniature form of a being robed in starry 
garments, with a glittering crown on its head, long 
tresses of golden hair, shining as sunbeams, streaming 
down its shoulders, and a face of the most unparalleled 
loveliness my eyes had then or have ever since beheld. 
I cannot tell whether this creature or image was designed 
to represent a male or female. I did not then know and 
may not now say whether it was an animate or inani- 
mate being. It seemed to be living, and its beautiful 
lips moved as if speaking, and its strangely-gleaming, 
sad eyes were fixed with an expression of pity upon 
me. 

Several voices, with the tones of little children, though 
I saw none present, said, in a clear, choral accent, " The 
crowned angel speaks. Listen ! " The lips of the fig- 
ure in the mirror then seemed to move. A long beam 
of light extended from them to the fine, noble-looking 
youth of about eighteen who stood beneath the mirror, 
and who pronounced, in the voice I had last heard, these 
words : — 

"Tell Felix von Marx he and his companions are 
searching in vain. They spend their time in idle efforts 



30 GHOST LAND. 

to confirm a myth, and will only reap the bitter fruits 
of disappointment and mockery. The soul of man is 
compounded from the aromal life of elementary spirits, 
and, like the founders and authors of its being, only 
sustains an individualized life so long as the vehicle 
of the soul holds together and remains intact. If the 
spirits of the elements, stars, and worlds have been 
unable during countless ages to discover the secret of 
eternal being, shall such a mere vaporous compound of 
their exhaled essence as the soul of man achieve the 
aim denied to them? Go to, presumptuous ones ! Life 
is a transitory condition of combinations, death a final 
state of dissolution. Being is an eternal alternation 
between these changes, and individuality is the privi- 
lege of the soul once only in eternity. Look upon 
my earthly companion! look well, and describe him, so 
that the employers who have sent you shall know that 
the crowned angel has spoken." 

I looked as directed, and noticed that the young man 
who spoke, or seemed to speak, in rhythmic harmony 
with the image in the mirror, wore a fantastic masquer- 
ade dress, different from all the other persons present. 
He on his part seemed moved with the desire that those 
around him should become aware of my presence, as he 
was. Then I noticed that his eyes looked intelligently 
into mine, as if he saw and recognized me; but the 
gaze of all the rest of the company met mine as if they 
looked on vacancy. They could not see me. 

w Flying soul," said the youth, authoritatively address- 
ing me, "can you not give us the usual signal?" In- 
stantly I remarked that dim, shadowy forms, like half 
erased photographic images, were fixed in the air and 
about the apartment, and I saw that they were forms 
composed of the essence of souls that, like mine, had 



GHOST LAND. 31 

visited that chamber, and like mine had left their tracery 
behind. With the pictures thus presented, however, I 
understood the nature of the signals they had given, 
and what was now demanded of me. I willed instinct- 
ively a strong breath or life essence to pass from myself 
to the young man, also I noticed that his photosphere 
was of the same rosy tint as Professor von Marx's. 

I saw the blue vapor from my form exhale like a 
cloud by my will, commingle with his photosphere, and 
precipitate itself towards his finger-ends, feet, hair, 
beard, and eyelashes. 

He laid his hand on a small tripod of different kinds 
of metal which stood near him, and, by the direction of 
my will, five showers of the life essence were discharged 
from his fingers, sounding like clear, distinct detonations 
through the apartment. 

All present started, and one voice remarked, "The 
messenger has been here ! " 

"And gone!" added the youth, when instantly I sunk 
into blank unconsciousness. 



CHAPTEE H. 

" The original of all things is one thing. Creation is one whole. The 
differences a mortal sees are diverse only to the finite mind." — Festus. 

As I recall the singular experiences which marked 
my early boyhood, it seems but yesterday that I, now a 
man in the meridian of life, was the lad of twelve sum- 
mers, led to my home by the hand of Professor yon 
Marx, on the memorable night when I first realized the 
marvel of magnetic influence and somnambulic lucidity, 
in the experiment detailed in the last chapter. As such 
experiments were constantly repeated, and spread over 
a period of full six years, I do not propose to recapitu- 
late them seriatim, but will endeavor to occupy my 
readers' time more profitably by presenting them with a 
summary of the revealments which those six years of 
occult practices disclosed to me. 

On the night of what I may call my initiation into 
the society associated with Professor von Marx, that 
gentleman informed me, on our way to our lodgings, 
that the unconscious condition into which I had fallen 
after my spiritual visit to Hamburgh was occasioned 
by the lack of force necessary to sustain my system to 
the close of the seance. 

He added that as I grew stronger and more accus- 
tomed to the magnetic control, I should be privileged 
to retain a recollection of what had transpired; and 
where this power failed, as it might do, my memory 
should be refreshed by a perusal of the memoranda 



GHOST LAND. 33 

which he kept of every seance, a storehouse of informa- 
tion which he intended to transcribe and correct in my 
presence. 

In fulfilment of this promise, the professor spent 
some hours of every week with me; and as I was per- 
mitted to propound any questions which arose in my 
mind, and he seemed to take a singular pleasure in 
explaining the philosophy connected with the facts he 
recorded, I soon became possessed of the opinions 
entertained by the society with whom I was unwit- 
tingly associated. 

Professor von Marx was not only a -member of that 
society* described so graphically by Jung Stilling in 
vision, but he also belonged to several others, all of 
whom were more or less addicted to the practices of 
animal and mineral magnetism. The particular asso- 
ciation to which I was first introduced constituted the 
German branch of a very ancient secret order, the 
name and distinctive characteristics of which neither I 
nor any other human being is privileged to mention, or 
even indicate more fully than I shall do in the following 
statements. 

Many learned men, and patient students into life's 
profoundest mysteries, had transmitted from generation 
to generation the result of their investigations and the 
opinions deduced from their experiments. This society, 
which I shall call for distinction's sake the "Berlin 
Brotherhood," conserving the experiences of their 
predecessors, had evolved the following elements of 
philosophy: They believed that every fragment of mat- 
ter in the universe represented a corresponding atom 
of spiritual existence; that this realm of spiritual being 
was the essence, force, and real substance of the mate- 
rial; but that both inevitably dissolved together, both 



34 GHOST LAND. 

being resolved back into their component parts in the 
chemical change called death. 

They acknowledged that the realm of spiritual being 
was ordinarily invisible to the material, and only known 
through its effects, being the active and controlling 
principle of matter; but they had discovered, by re- 
peated experiments, that spiritual forms could become 
visible to the material under certain conditions, the most 
favorable of which were somnambulism procured through 
the magnetic sleep. This state, they had found, could 
be induced sometimes by drugs, vapors, and aromal 
essences; sometimes by spells, as through music, in- 
tently staring into crystals, the eyes of snakes, funning 
water, or other glittering substances; occasionally by 
intoxication caused by dancing, spinning around, or 
distracting clamors; but the best and most efficacious 
method of exalting the spirit into the superior world 
and putting the body to sleep was, as they had proved, 
through animal magnetism. They taught that in the 
realms of spiritual existence were beings who composed 
the fragmentary and unorganized parts of humanity, as 
well as beings of higher orders than humanity. Thus, 
as man was composed of earthly substances, vegetable 
tissues, mineral, atmospheric, and watery elements, so 
all these had realms of spiritual existences, perfectly 
in harmony with their peculiar quality and functions. 
Hence, they alleged there were earthy spirits; spirits 
of the flood, the fire, the air ; spirits of various animals ; 
spirits of plant life, . in all its varieties ; spirits of the 
atmosphere; and planetary spirits, without limit or 
number. The spirits of the planets and higher worlds 
than earth took rank far above any of those that dwelt 
upon or in its interior. These spirits were more pow- 
erful, wise, and far-seeing than the earth spirits, whilst 



GHOST LAND. 35 

their term of existence was also more extended in point 
of time ; bnt to no spirit did the Brotherhood attribute 
the privilege of immortality, and least of all to the 
fleeting and composite essence which formed the vital 
principle of man. Assuming that, as man's soul was 
composed of all the elements which were represented 
in the construction of his body, so his spirit was, as a 
whole, far superior to the spirits of earth, water, plants, 
minerals, etc., to hold communion with them, however, 
was deemed by the Brotherhood legitimate and neces- 
sary to those who would obtain a full understanding 
of the special departments of nature in which these 
embryotic existences were to be found. Thus they in- 
voked their presence by magical rites, and sought to 
obtain control over them, for the purpose of wresting 
from them the complete understanding of and power 
over the secrets of nature. Whilst I found, by re- 
peated conversations with my new associates, that every 
one of them emphatically denied the continued existence 
of the soul after death, they still believed that the soul's 
essence became progressed by entering into organic 
forms, and thus that our essences, though not our in- 
dividualities, were taken up by higher organisms than 
man's, and ultimately formed portions of that exalted 
race of beings who ruled the fate of nations, and from 
time to time communicated with the soul of man as 
planetary spirits. They taught that the elementary spir- 
its, like the soul essence in man, were dissipated by the 
action of death, but, like that soul essence, became pro- 
gressed by existence in forms, and were taken up by 
higher organisms, and ultimately helped to make up 
the spirit in man. 

Strange and even fantastic as the belief sketched 
above may appear to the sceptic, materialist, or spirit- 



36 GHOST LAND. 

ualist, permit me to assure all these differential classes 
of thinkers that these views have a far wider acceptance 
than the bare facts of history or biography would lead 
mankind to believe. 

I have conversed with leading minds of the German 
schools in many phases of thought, and have found 
them unable to combat the facts I had to show, and com- 
pelled them to acknowledge the plausibility of my the- 
ory as an explanation of many of what would otherwise 
remain insoluble problems in nature. The society to 
which I was introduced by Professor von Marx was not 
the only one which cherished these views. In Arabia, 
India, Asia Minor, Hungary, Bohemia, Italy, France, 
Sweden, and Great Britain, secret societies exist where 
these beliefs are accepted, and some of the experiences 
I am about to relate occurred in the great Babylon of 
materialism, London, during a visit which I made with 
Professor von Marx to England. 

The professor was exceedingly generous, and dis- 
tributed his abundant means with an unstinted hand. 
One day, discoursing with me on the subject of his lav- 
ish expenditure, he remarked, carelessly, — 

w There is that mineral quality in my organism, Louis, 
which attracts to me and easily subjects to my control 
the elementary spirits who rule in the mineral kingdoms. 
Have I not informed you how invariably I can tell the 
quality of mines, however distant? how often I have 
stumbled, as if by accident, upon buried treasures ? and 
how constantly my investments and speculations have 
resulted in financial successes? Louis, I attract money, 
because I attract mineral elements and the spirits who 
rule in that realm of nature. 

" I neither seek for nor covet wealth. I love precious 
stones for their beauty and magnetic virtues, but money, 



GHOST LAND. 37 

as a mere possession, I despise. Were I as mercenary 
in my disposition as I am powerful in the means of gain- 
ing wealth, I could be richer than Croesus, and command 
a longer purse than Fortunatus." 

" Is it not strange, my master," I replied, w that the 
specialty of your physical nature — namely, the power 
of attracting riches, as you allege — should not find a 
corresponding desire in your soul?" 

"Not at all, my Louis; on the contrary, Nature is 
purely harmonious, and ever tends to equilibrium in all 
her strivings. Have you not remarked how often the 
possession of a special gift is accompanied by an indif- 
ference to its possession? 

w Good singers, great musicians, and even poets, 
painters, and sculptors, rarely estimate their gifts as 
highly as the world that enjoys them. They are ever 
dissatisfied with themselves, and unless the world praises, 
applauds, and recompenses them, they find but little or 
no interior reward from the mere exercise of their fac- 
ulty. And thus it is with all Nature's gifts. Abun- 
dance of strength in the physical departments of our 
being rarely accompanies unusual vigor of thought or 
profundity of intellect; muscle and brain seldom hold 
companionship; and so the magnetic attractions which 
draw unto my physique the metallic treasures of the 
earth fail to find any response in the magnetic attrac- 
tions of my spirit, whereas, were I so constituted as to 
lack the force which attracts the service of the spirits of 
the metals, my soul would feel and yearn for a supply to 
the deficiency in a constant aspiration for money and 
treasure." 

And that is why (as I then believed) Professor von 
Marx was rich, but did not care for or value his wealth, 
whilst so many millions, who do not possess in their 



38 GHOST LAND. 

organisms that peculiar mineral quality which, as the 
Brotherhood taught, was necessary to attract wealth, 
pine for its possession, yet spend their lives vainly in 
its pursuit. 

It becomes necessary, for the benefit of any students 
of psychological mysteries who may peruse these pages, 
that I should here state, as briefly as possible, the spe- 
cialties in my association with the "Berlin Brother- 
hood" which attracted them to me. 

They believed (and with good reason) that the spir- 
itual essence in man called soul is susceptible of acting 
a part independent, to some extent, of the body; that 
when the body is entranced, or subsides into perfect 
rest beneath the action of the mesmeric sleep, the 
spirit, becoming liberated from its control, acquires 
highly exalted functions, amongst which are the powers 
of traversing space, and beholding objects through the 
lucidity of spiritual light. Professor von Marx had 
detected, through certain signs familiar to good mes- 
merists, that I was a subject for magnetic experiments. 

My power as a "clairvoyant" exceeded what he had 
anticipated; hence my services to the Brotherhood were 
highly appreciated. Ever since the practices of Mesmer 
had become familiar to them, they had delighted in pur- 
suing them in support of their favorite theory, which 
was that the soul essence of man could appear, make 
signs, sounds, and disturbances, in places distant from 
the body ; that at times, when these soul essences were 
dissipated suddenly, as in the action of violent death, 
they inhered to earthly things and places, and for a 
time could maintain a sort of vague, shadowy existence, 
which at length melted away, and became dissipated 
in space, to be taken up from the grand reservoir of spir- 
itual essences in other souls. Now, the brothers insisted 



GHOST LAND. 39 

that these soul essences, which they called the " double 
goer," and more frequently the " atmospheric spirit," by 
its occasional appearances, both before and after the 
death of individuals, covered the whole ground of 
spectres, ghosts, apparitions, hauntings, and supernat- 
uralism in general. 

The fact that the "atmospheric spirit" often lingered 
round the earth after the death of the body, and could 
be seen, heard, and felt, did not militate against their 
theory that immortality was a fiction and that the soul 
died with the body. "It was merely the atmospheric 
spirit; a shadowy remnant of the soul," they said, 
"which had ever been seen or manifested in the realm 
of ghost land; and this was not a permanent, intelligent 
existence, but . merely a temporary relic of the broken 
organism, like the perfume which lingers about the spot 
where the flower has been." By repeated and patient 
experiments with their magnetic subjects, they found 
that they could send the "double" or "atmospheric 
spirit" abroad in the somnambulic sleep, and that it 
could be seen, heard, and felt precisely like the spectres 
that were claimed to have been manifested in tales of 
the supernatural. 

On one occasion, the society having thrown me into a 
profound sleep by the aid of vital magnetism, and the 
vapors of nitrous oxide gas, they directed my " atmos- 
pheric spirit " to proceed, in company with two other 
lucid subjects, to a certain castle in Bohemia, where 
friends of theirs resided, and then and there to make 
disturbances by throwing stones, moving ponderable 
bodies, shrieking, groaning, and tramping heavily, etc. 
etc. I here state emphatically, and upon the honor of 
one devoted only to the interests of truth, that these 
disturbances were made, and made by the spirits of 



40 GHOST LAND. 

myself and two other yet living beings, a girl and a boy 
who were subjects of the society; and though we, in 
our own individualities, remembered nothing whatever 
of our performance, we were shortly afterwards shown 
a long and startling newspaper account of the haunt- 

ings in the castle of Baron von L , of which we 

were the authors. 

In a work devoted to the relation of occult narra- 
tives I have in my library at this moment an account 
of the "manifestations," as they were termed, which 
occurred, on three several occasions, at a certain castle 
in Bohemia. The writer attributes these disturbances 
to disembodied spirits, but in the particular case in 
question, I insist that the atmospheric spirits of the 
Berlin Brotherhood were the authors of the facts 
recorded. As the experiments of these grave gentle- 
men were neither pursued in fun or mischief, but solely 
with a view to evolve the rationale of a psychological 
science, I must confess that they followed out their 
experiments without remorse or consideration for the 
feelings of others; and as we were all bound by the 
most solemn oaths of secrecy, there was little or no 
chance that a solution to any of the mysteries that 
originated in our circle could escape from its charmed 
precincts. I am now writing at a period of nearly half 
a century after the following occurrences; there will 
be no impropriety, therefore, in my recalling to any 
individual who may chance to retain a recollection 
of the event, the scandal that prevailed about fifty 
years ago in a town in Russia, concerning a nobleman 
much given to the study of occult arts, who was 
alleged to have put to death a young country girl 
whom he had subjected for some months to his magical 
experiments, and that for the purpose of proving 



GHOST LAND. 41 

whether her atmospheric spirit, violently thrust out of 
the body in the vigor of vitality, could not continue 
hovering around the scene of death, and make manifes- 
tations palpable to the sense of sight and sound. The 
popular rumor concerning this barbarous sacrifice was 
that the nobleman in question had seduced the unhappy 
peasant girl, and, after having perilled her immortal soul 
by his magical arts, he had ruthlessly destroyed her 
body for fear she should betray him. 

Certain it was that the gentleman in question was 
charged with murder, tried and acquitted, just as it was 
supposed any other powerful nobleman in his place 
would have been. The results, however, were that 
strange and horrible disturbances took place in his 
castle. The affrighted domestics alleged that the spirit 
of the victim held possession of her destroyer's dwell- 
ing, and night after night her wild shrieks and blood- 
stained form, flying through gallery and corridor, 
"made night hideous," and startled the surrounding 
peasantry from slumber. Humor added that the ghost, 
spectre, or w atmospheric spirit," whatever it might be, 
was not laid for years, and that the adept who had 
resorted to such terrible methods of gratifying his insa- 
tiate thirst for occult knowledge paid a tremendous 
penalty for what he had sought. Tortured with the 
horrible phantom he had evoked, his mind succumbed, 
and became a mere wreck. At the time when I com- 
menced my experiences with the Brotherhood, this man, 
who had once been an honored member of their society, 
was confined as a hopeless lunatic, whilst his castle and 
estates were abandoned by his heir to the possession of 
the dread haunter and the destructive spirit of neglect 
and dilapidation. 

It was by the command of my associates that I one 



42 GHOST LAND, 

night visited, in the magnetic sleep, the cell of the 
lunatic; and being charged by the power of the 
Brothers with their combined magnetic force, I threw 
it on the maniac, and by this means, whilst his suf- 
fering body slumbered tranquilly, I returned to our 
"sanctuary" with his spirit; and from the records of 
that night's proceedings, I extract the following minutes 
of what transpired. He whose office I am not per- 
mitted by my honor to name, I shall call " Grand 
Master," and he thus questioned what was always 
called on these occasions the " flying soul " of the 
maniac : — 

Grand Master. Did you kill the body of A. M.? 
Answer truly. 

Flying Soul. I did. 

G. M. For what purpose, and how? 

F. 8. To ascertain if the atmospheric spirit, being 
full of life, could remain with me. I killed her by a 
sudden blow, so as to let all the life out at once, and I 
drew out the spirit from the dead form by mesmeric 
passes. 

G. M. Did you see that spirit pass? 

F. 8. I did. 

G. M. How did it look? 

F. 8. Exactly like the body, only it wore an aspect 
of horror and appeal terrible to behold. 

G. M. Did the spirit stay with you, and how long? 
Did it obey you, and act intelligently, or did it act a 
merely automatic part? 

F. 8. Mortals, know that there is no death! I did 
not kill A. M. I only broke up the temple in which her 
soul dwelt. That soul is immortal, and can not 
die. I found this out the moment after it had left the 
body, for it looked upon me, spoke to me, and re- 



GHOST LAND. 43 

proached me. O God of heaven, saints and angels, 
pity me ! It spoke to me as intelligently, but far, far 
more potentially than ever it had done in earthly being. 
It was not dead. It could not die; it never will die, 
and so it told me at once ; but ah me, miserable ! when 
I sank down aghast and struck with ineffable horror, 
as the spirit approached me, into a deep swoon, I en- 
tered the land of immortal souls. There I saw many 
people whom I had thought dead, but who were all 
still living. There, too, I saw the still living and radi- 
antly glorious soul of my old pastor, Michael H . 

Sternly but sorrowfully he told me I had committed a 
great and irreparable crime ; that all crime was unpar- 
donable, and could only be wiped out by personal, and 
not by vicarious atonement, as he had falsely taught 
whilst on earth; that my only means of atonement was 
suffering, and that in kind, or in connection with my 
dreadful crime ; that, as the poor victim would be en- 
gaged during the term of her earthly life (broken short 
by my act) in working it out in an earthly sphere, so 
her magnetism, actually attracted, as I had deemed, to 
the spot where her life had been taken, w*ould continue 
to haunt me, and repeat in vision the last dread act of 
murder until her life essence should melt away, and her 
spirit become free to quit the earth, and progress, as 
she would do, to higher spheres. Sometimes this 
stern teacher informed me I should see the real living 
soul of my victim, and then it would be as a pitying 
angel striving to help me ; but still oftener I should- see 
only the " spectre," and this would always appear as in 
the death-moment, an avenging form, partly conjured 
up from my own memory, and partly from the magnetic 
aura of my victim, and always taking the shape and 
circumstances of my dreadful crime. Mortals, there is 



44 GHOST LAND. 

much more to tell you of the awful realms beyond the 
grave, and the solemn connection between life and 
death, but more I dare not speak. Human beings will 
soon learn it for themselves ; for the souls of the immor- 
tals are preparing to bridge over the gulf of death, and 
men and spirits will yet cross and recross it. Meantime 
ye are the blind leading the blind; deceiving yourselves 
with a vain philosophy, and deceiving all to whom ye 
teach it. There is no death ! I must be gone. Hark, 
I am called! 

The minutes which follow, on this strange revelation 
of. the maniac's "flying soul," add: — 

"It would seem that the body was disturbed in its 
somnambulism, and the soul recalled; but we could 
have gained nothing by prolonging this interview, for 
evidently that soul had returned in its lucid intervals 
to the ancient and false philosophy in which it had in 
childhood been instructed, namely, the mythical belief 
in its immortality. 

"The spirits of lunatics can be evoked, and always 
speak and think rationally when freed from the dis- 
ordered body; but we note that they most commonly 
go back to the rudimental periods of their existence, 
and generally insist on the popular myth of immortality. 

"Perhaps they are en rapport with the prevailing 
opinions of men, and are thus psychologized into re- 
peating accepted ideas. There is nothing, however, to 
be gained from this experiment." 



CHAPTEK HI. 

CONSTANCE. 

Ik the college buildings occupied by the professors 
and employees attached to the university of which I 
became a student, resided a mathematical teacher, whom 
I shall designate Professor Miiller. This gentleman 
held a distinguished place in the ranks of science, and 
was also one of the secret society associated with 
myself and Professor von Marx. He was a sullen, 
cold, ungenial man, and though esteemed for his sci- 
entific attainments, and regarded by our society as a 
powerful mesmeric operator, he was generally disliked, 
and was particularly repulsive to the " sensitives " whom 
he occasionally magnetized. Professor von Marx had 
always carefully isolated me from every magnetic influ- 
ence but his own, and though I was consequently never 
required to submit to the control of Herr Miiller, his 
very presence was so antipathetic to me that it was 
remarked my highest conditions of lucidity could never 
be evolved when he was by. He did not often attend 
the seances, however, in which I was engaged, although 
he belonged to our group, as well as others to which I 
was not admitted. Professor Miiller' s chief interest in 
my eyes was his relationship to a charming young lady, 
some years older than myself, but one for whom I cher- 
ished a sentiment which I can now only liken to the 
adoration of an humble votary for his saint; and truly 



46 GHOST LAND. 

Constance Miiller was worthy to be enshrined in any 
heart as its presiding angel. 

She was beautiful, fair, and fragile-looking as a water- 
lily ; gentle, timid, and shrinking as a fawn ; and though 
residing with her stern, unloving uncle in the college 
buildings, and fulfilling for him the duties of a house- 
keeper, few of the other residents ever saw her except 
in transitory, passing glances, and none of the members 
of the university, save one, enjoyed the privilege of 
any direct personal intercourse with her. That solitary 
and highly-favored individual was myself. 

I had made the acquaintance of the lovely lady on 
several occasions, when I had been sent from my friend, 
Herr von Mai*x, on messages to her uncle ; and deeming,. 
I presume, that my boyish years would shield our inter- 
course from all possibility of scandaj or remark, the 
lonely fairy had deigned to bestow on me some slight 
attention, which finally ripened into a friendship equally 
sincere and delightful. 

Constance Miiller was an orphan, poor, and dependent 
on her only relative, Herr Miiller. Young as I was, I 
could perceive the injustice, no less than the impropriety, 
of a young lady so delicately nurtured and possessed of 
fine sensitive instincts, being brought into such a scene, 
and subjected to such a life as she led in the university. 
She made no complaint, however, simply informing me 
that by the death of her father, a poor teacher of lan- 
guages, she had become solely dependent upon her 
uncle, and though she hoped eventually to induce him 
to aid her in establishing herself as a teacher of music, 
she was too thankful for his temporary protection to 
urge her choice of another life upon him, until she found 
him willing to promote her wishes. As for me, I lis- 
tened to her remarks on this head with strange misgiv- 



GHOST LAND. 47 

ings. My own secret convictions were that the stern 
student of the occult had brought this beautiful young 
creature to the college with ulterior motives, in which 
his devotion to magical studies formed the leading idea. 
I may as well record here as at any other point of my 
narrative that, although I was deeply interested, nay, 
actually infatuated with the pursuits in which my clair- 
voyant susceptibilities had inducted me, I was never, 
from their very first commencement, satisfied that they 
were legitimate or healthful to the minds that were 
engaged in them. I felt the most implicit faith in the 
integrity and wisdom of Professor von Marx, as well as 
entire confidence in his affection for and paternal care 
of me ; but here my confidence in any of my associates 
ended. 

Somehow they all seemed to me to be men without 
souls. They were desperate, determined seekers into 
realms of being with which earth had no sympathy, and 
which in consequence abstracted them from all human 
feelings or human emotions. 

Not one of them, that I can remember, ever manifested 
any genial qualities or seemed to delight in social exer- 
cises. They were profound, philosophic, isolated men, 
pursuing from mere necessity, or as a cloak to the stu- 
pendous secrets of their existence, some scientific occu- 
pation, yet in their innermost natures lost to earth and 
its sweet humanities ; living amongst men, but partaking 
neither of their vices nor their virtues. 

In their companionship I felt abandoned of my kind. 
Bound, chained, like a Prometheus, to the realms of the 
mysterious existences whom these men had subdued to 
their service, I often fancied myself a doomed soul, shut 
out forever from the tender and trustful associations of 
mortality, and swallowed up in an ocean of awe and mys- 



48 GHOST LAND. 

ticism, from which there was none to save, none to help 
me. 

If the knowledge I had purchased was indeed a reality, 
there were times when I deemed it was neither good nor 
lawful for man to possess it. I often envied the peace- 
ful unconsciousness of the outer world, and would gladly 
have gone back to the simple faith of my childhood, and 
then have closed my eyes in eternal sleep sooner than 
awaken to the terrible unrest which had possessed me 
since I had crossed the safe boundaries of the visible, 
and entered upon the illimitable wastes of the invisible. 

And now, methought, Constance, the fair, gentle, and 
loving-hearted orphan, Constance, who so yearned for 
affection that she was content in her isolation to cling 
even to a young boy like me, was to become their 
victim; be inducted into the cold, unearthly realms of 
half-formed spiritual existences; lose all her precious 
womanly attributes, and with fixed, wild glances pier- 
cing the invisible, stare away from the faces of her fel- 
low-mortals to the grotesque lineaments of goblins, the 
forms of sylphs, and the horrible rudiments of imperfect 
being that fill the realms of space, mercifully hidden 
from the eyes of ordinary mortals. Constance, I knew, 
longed for this knowledge, and whether prompted by 
the suggestions of her remorseless relative, or fired 
with the sphere of influence which he projected from his 
resolved mind, I could not tell ; certain it was that she 
had obtained some clew to the pursuits in which I was 
engaged, and was perpetually plying me with questions 
and attempts to elicit information concerning them. 

To this, though I felt as if I were betraying the inter- 
ests of my beloved master, I invariably returned answers 
clothed in discouraging words and hints of warning. All 
would not avail. On a certain evening when I was my- 



GHOST LAND. 49 

self off duty, but when a special meeting to which I did 
not belong was held by»the brothers, I saw Professor 
Miiller cross the college grounds, supporting on his arm 
the closely-veiled and ethereal form of Constance. I 
saw them enter a coach which was waiting for them at 
the gate, and running hastily in their track, I heard the 
professor direct the driver to set them down in that 
remote quarter of the town where the meetings of the 
Brotherhood were held. w Gone to the sacrifice ! " I men- 
tally exclaimed. w Constance, thou art doomed ! sold to 
a world of demons here and hereafter, — if indeed there 
is a hereafter." Two evenings after this, as I was taking 
my solitary walk in the college grounds, a quick step 
pursued me; a hand was laid lightly on my shoulder, 
and looking up I beheld Constance Miiller, a transfig- 
ured being. Her eyes gleamed with a strange, unearthly 
light ; her head seemed to be thrown upwards as if spurn- 
ing the earth and seeking kindred with the stars ; her 
cheek burned with a deep hectic flush, and a singular 
air of triumph sat on her beautiful lips as she thus 
accosted me : " Thou false page ! how long wouldst thou 
have kept the mistress, to whom thou hast sworn fealty,- 
imprisoned in the darkness of earthly captivity, when 
realms of light and glory and wonder were waiting for 
her to enter in and possess ? " 

" O Constance! where have you been? " 
T Where I shall some day meet you, my young pala- 
din, — in the land of light, for an entrance to which my 
soul has yearned ever since I could look up from the 
chill world of materialism, and feel that it must be 
vitalized and fired by a world of spiritualism. Yes, 
Louis, I know now the secrets of your nightly wander- 
ings, — and I too can traverse space. I too can com- 
mune with the soul of things, and in enfranchised 



50 GHOST LAND. 

liberty the inner self of Constance can roam the 
spheres of infinity and pierce the secrets of eternity.'" 

"Alas!" I murmured, and then, unable to explain 
even to myself the unspeakable grief that filled my 
heart, I hung my head, and walked on silently by the 
side of the poor enthusiast. 

For several weeks Constance Miiller lived in the 
ecstacy of a pioneer who has discovered a new world, 
and deems himself its sovereign. I never could convey 
to her, in language, my own deep sense of man's inapti- 
tude to commune with worlds of being at once foreign 
and repulsive to his mortality ; but she saw, and in her 
wonderfully sympathetic nature appreciated the emo- 
tions I could not shape into words. In the glory of 
triumphant power over and through the invisible, how- 
ever, the neophyte could not share the thoughts which 
some years of experience had forced upon me as convic- 
tions ; but, ah me ! why should I have wished to hasten 
the eclair cissement? It came soon enough, or rather, 
too soon, too soon! I was never present at the seances 
in which Constance took part, nor were any of the other 
cr lucid subjects " known to me, hence I never knew 
what transpired. The Brothers had many phases of 
spiritual communion among them, and though, thanks 
to the indulgent care of my teacher, I learned more 
than any of the other " sensitives " were permitted to 
know during their terms of initiation, I was aware that 
there were vast theatres of transcendental knowledge 
to be traversed, into which few if any mortals had been 
as yet fully inducted. 

To every seance a formulas was attached in the shape 
of oaths of secrecy, so tremendous that those who were 
sincere in their belief were never known to break them. 
That any part of the weird services conducted in 



GHOST LAND. 51 

these meetings should be subsequently revealed to the 
world is the best proof that the neophytes have ceased 
to be sincere or to regard their vows of silence as bind- 
ing. At the time of which I write, I was deeply in 
earnest, and regarded the knowledge I had acquired as 
the most sacred that could be communicated; hence I 
never questioned Constance concerning her experiences, 
although I too well divined their nature. 

As months glided on, I found most certainly that the 
spirit of this poor victim had been trained to become a 
"flying soul," and was, at most of the seances she 
attended, liberated for some purposes which I could 
only guess at. 

Whatever these were, they soon began to affect her 
health and spirits. She pined away like a flower 
deprived of light and air. Frailer and more ethereal 
grew that slight, sylph-like form; more wan and hollow 
waxed the once tinted cheek and lips day by day. 

Her large, blue eyes became sunken and hollow, and 
her curling locks of pale gold seemed like a coronet of 
sunbeams, already entwined to circle the brow of an 
eternal sleeper. At every seance she attended, her 
spirit, attenuating like a thread of long-drawn light, 
invariably floated away, as its first and most powerful 
attraction, to whatever place I happened to be in : some- 
times poring over my books in my quiet little chamber; 
sometimes dreamily watching the ripples of the dancing 
fountain which played in the college square; not unfre- 
quently wandering in the arcades of the thick woods 
that skirted the town; and at times stretched on the 
grass, watching, but never entering into, the merry 
sports of the youths of my own age, with whom, as 
companions, I had lost all sympathy. At home or 
abroad, alone or in the midst of a crowd, wherever I 



52 GHOST LAND. 

chanced to be, when the enfranchised soul of the beau- 
tiful Constance broke its prison bonds and went free, 
save for the magnetic spell of her operators, it invari- 
ably sought me out, and like a wreath of pale, sunlit 
mist, floated some two feet above the ground in bodily 
form and presentment before me. Accustomed to the 
phenomenon of the " double goer," this phantom neither 
surprised nor disturbed me. My spiritual experiences 
enabled me to perceive that during the few moments 
that the spirit of the "sensitive" was passing into the 
magnetic sleep, and before her magnetizers had yet full 
control of her, the instinctive attractions of her nature 
drew her to the boy whom she had already discovered 
to be her worshipper, the only being, perhaps, to whom 
she was drawn by the ties of affection, with which her 
loving nature was replete. All this I knew, and should 
have rejoiced in had not the phantom of the victim pre- 
sented unmistakable tokens of being a sacrifice, and 
that an unpitied one, to the dark magians with whom 
she was so fatally associated. 

In the vision of the "flying soul" of Constance, there 
was no speculation in the fixidity of the lustrous eyes; 
the form reposed as if on air, and the long, sunny curls 
would almost sweep the ground at my feet; but the 
look of hopeless sorrow and blank despair, which had 
grown to be a permanent expression on her waking 
features, was even more piteously depicted on the mag- 
netic shade. She did not see me, touch, or know me, 
but the bruised spirit fled unconsciously to the shelter 
of the only presence that would, if it could, have saved 
her, and then passed away, to do the bidding of the 
remorseless men that had possessed themselves, as I 
then thought, of her helpless soul. 

One evening, when we had been strolling out together, 



GHOST LAND. 53 

and had sat on a lone hill side, watching the sinking 
sun setting in gorgeous, many-colored glory over the 
outstretched gardens, meadows, and plains beneath, 
Constance broke a long silence by exclaiming in low 
yet passionate tones, "Louis, you think the men who 
have entrapped us, both body and soul, in their foul, 
magical meshes, are good and pure, even if they are 
cold and ungenial in their devotion to their awful 
studies. Louis, you are mistaken. I bear witness to 
you as the last, and perhaps the only act by which 
I may ever more serve you on earth, that some of them 
are impious, inhuman, and, O Heaven, how monstrously 
impure ! " 

" Constance, you amaze me ! " 

w Do not interrupt me, Louis. I am injured past all 
reparation. You may be snatched from the vortex 
which pollutes th body and blasts the soul; but for 
me, oh, would th f " 

The hides cr n in which this 

lament was ut quick. 

I threw nr beautiful lady, pro- 

testing I w For her sake, to do 

her good ar, I would crush the 

whole nf ould so many wasps. I 

would 1 them to the authorities, — 

any thi [ me do. All I asked was 

to be 

T the low tones of the gentle 

Cr >d in stifled whispers, entreat- 

r , patient, and to be assured that 

v living creature could be of the 

j her. w I have seen the end," she 

,d succeeded in calming me, " and I 

nt as I am for its coming, it will not 



54 GHOST LAND. 

be long delayed. I shall enter into the realms of light 
and glory, for these dreadful men have only abused my 
helpless spirit so long as it is imprisoned in my weak 
body and its connecting forces ; they have not touched 
its integrity, nor can they maintain their hold upon it 
one instant after it has severed the chain which binds 
the immortal to the mortal. When that is broken I 
shall be free and happy." 

" Constance ! " I cried, " is it then given you to know 
what new form you will inhabit? Surely, one so good 
and true and beautiful can become nothing less than a 
radiant planetary spirit ! " 

"I shall be the same Constance I ever was," she 
replied, solemnly. "I am an immortal spirit now, 
although bound in material chains within this frail body, 
and in magnetic chains still more terrible to the power 
of yon base, bad men." 

" Constance, you dream ! Death is the end of indi- 
viduality. Your spirit may be, must be, taken up by 
the bright realms of starry being, but never as the Con- 
stance you now are." 

"Forever and forever, Louis, I shall be ever the 
same. I have seen worlds of being those magians can 
not ascend to, — worlds of bright, resurrected human 
souls upon whom death has had no power save to dis- 
solve the earthly chains that held them in tenements of 
clay. I have seen the soul world; I have seen that it is 
imperishable. Louis, there are in these grasses beneath 
our feet spiritual essences that never die. In my 
moments of happiest lucidity, that is " — and here a 
strong shudder shook her frame — "when I could 
escape from my tormentors and the world of demons 
amongst whom they delight to roam, then, Louis, my 
soul winged through space and pierced into a brighter 



GHOST LAND. 55 

interior than they have ever realized, aye, even into the 
real soul of the universe, not the mere magnetic 
envelope which binds spirit and body together. Louis, 
in the first or inner recesses of nature is the realm of 
force, comprising light, heat, magnetism, life, nerve, 
aura, essence, and all the imponderables that make up 
motion, for motion is force, composed of many subdi- 
visible parts. Here inhere those worlds of half-formed, 
embryotic existences with which our tormentors hold 
intercourse. They are the spiritual parts of matter, 
and supply to matter the qualities of force; but they 
are all embryotic, all transitory, and only partially intel- 
ligent existences. ISTothing which is imperfect is per- 
manent, hence these imperfect elementary spirits have 
no real or permanent existence ; they are fragments of 
being, organs, but not organisms, and until they are 
combined into the organism of manhood, they can out-, 
work no real individuality, hence they perish — die, 
that we may gather up their progressed atoms, and 
incarnate their separate organs *as the complete organ- 
ism of man." 

" And man himself, Constance? " 

w Man as a perfected organism can not die, Louis. 
The mould i i Mcli he is formed must perish, in order 
that the so free. The envelope, or magnetic 

body tha^ b >dy and soul together, is formed of 

force an try spirit; hence this stays for a time 

with tr er death, and enables it to return to, or 

linger aron ae earth for providential purposes until 
it hr purified from sin ; but even this at length 

droBfe off, ai?d then the soul lives as pure spirit, in spirit 
n loriously bright, radiantly happy, strong, pow- 

nal, infinite. That is heaven; that it is to 
di God; such souls are his angels/' 



56 GHOST LAND. 

w Constance, you speak with assurance. How know 
you this — not from the Brotherhood?" 

" The Brotherhood, Louis ! Why, they are but grop- 
ing through the thick darkness of the material world, 
and just penetrating the realms of force. 

" I tell you those realms are only peopled with 
shadows, ghosts, phantoms. 

" The hand is not the body, the eye is not the head ; 
neither are the thin, vapory essences that constitute the 
separate organs of which the world of force is composed, 
the soul. Mark me, Louis ! Priests dream of the exist- 
ence of soul worlds, the Brotherhood of the beings in 
the world of force. The priests call the elementary 
spirits of the mid-region mere creations of human fancy 
and superstition. The Brothers charge the same hallu- 
cination upon the priests. Both are partly right and 
partly wrong, for the actual experiences of the soul will 
prove that beings exist of both natures, and that both 
realms are verities; only the elementary spirits in the 
realms of force are like*the earth, perishable and transi- 
tory, and the perfected spirits in the realm of soul are 
immortal, and never die. Louis, I have seen and con- 
versed with both, and I know I do not dream. Here, 
miserable that I am, I am bound to earth; my soul is 
imprisoned by the chains of force ; I am compelled to 
minister to the insatiate curiosity of the spirits who 
cannot ascend beyond those mid-regions, and oh! the 
horror of that bondage would have bereft my soul of 
reason, had it not been redeemed by foregleams of the 
more holy and exalted destiny reserved for the soul in 
the blest sphere of immortality. Dear boy, ask me no 
more, press me no further. My sw r eet brother, dearly, 
fondly loved by Constance ! when I am an enfranchised 
spirit, I will come to thee, and prove my words by the 






GHOST LAND. 57 

very presence of an arisen, immortal soul. Remem- 
ber! " 

During the months succeeding this memorable con- 
versation, I only encountered the " flying soul " of the 
dying Constance once. 

I understood that this recession of her spirit was from 
no decrease of the experiments, whatever they might be, 
that she suffered, nor yet from any cessation of her at- 
traction to myself, but the bonds of earth were loosen- 
ing, the vital forces waning, and I knew that the pale 
phantom was losing the earthly essence necessary to 
become visible even in the atmosphere of invisible 
forces. My beautiful saint would soon be taken from 
me, my earthly idol would be shattered ; and oh ! were 
it possible to believe her words, and think that she 
could still live in a brighter and better state of being, I 
might have been comforted; but driven from this anchor 
of hope by the emphatic teachings of the Brotherhood 
and their spirits, I beheld my earth angel melting away 
into blank annihilation, with an anguish that admitted 
of no alleviation, a pain at my heart almost insupport- 
able. 

I had been away for some months in England, pur- 
suing studies of which I shall speak more presently. 
Professor von Marx had been my companion, and we 
had just returned, when one night, as I was about to 
retire to rest, and proceeded to draw the curtain which 
shaded my window, something seemed to rise outside 
the casement, which intercepted the light of the moon. 
The house in which I dwelt was on the borders of a 
beautiful lake, and too high above it to allow of any 
stray passenger climbing up to my casement. There 
was no boat on the waters, no foothold between them 
and the terrace, which was far below my window. I had 



58 GHOST LAND. 

been gazing out for some time on the placid lake, illu- 
mined by the broad path of light shed over it by the full 
moon, and I knew that no living creature was near or 
could gain access to my apartment ; and yet there, stand- 
ing on air against the casement, and intercepting the rays 
that streamed on either side of her on the mosaic floor 
of my chamber, stood the gracious and radiant form of 
Constance Miiller. In the flash of one second of time I 
knew it was not her atmospheric spirit that stood there. 

Radiant, shining, and glorious she now appeared, her 
sweet eyes looking full of penetrating intelligence into 
mine, her sweet smile directed towards me, and a motion 
of her hand like the action of a salute, indicating that the 
apparition saw and recognized me, and was all beaming 
with interest and intelligence. By a process which was 
not ordinary motion, the lovely phantom seemed to glide 
through the window and appear suddenly within a few 
feet of the couch, to which, on her first appearance, I 
had staggered back. Slightly bending forward, as if to 
arrest my attention, though without the least movement 
of the lips, her voice reached my ear, sa}dng, w I am free, 
happy, and immortal." Swiftly as she had appeared, the 
apparition vanished, and in its place I beheld the vision- 
ary semblance of the old-fashioned room in the college 
building occupied by Constance Miiller. On a couch 
which I well knew, lay the form of the once beautiful 
tenant, pale, ghastly, dead! The form was partly cov- 
ered over with a sheet, but where the white dressing- 
robe she wore was open at the throat I observed clearly 
and distinctly two black, livid spots, like the marks of a 
thumb and finger. 

The face was distorted, the eyes staring, and I saw 
she had been murdered. 

Ghastly as was the scene I looked upon, a preternatu- 



GHOST LAND. 59 

ral power of observation seemed to possess me, impelling 
me to look around the apartment, which I perceived was 
stripped of many things I had been accustomed to see 
there. The harp was gone, and so was the desk and 
books at which I had so frequently seen her seated. 
Looking with the piercing eye of the spirit behind as 
well as upon the couch where the body lay, I saw the 
black ribbon and gold locket which Constance had 
always worn round her neck lying on the ground as if 
it had been dropped there. 

If there was any meaning in this vision, it would 
appear that this object was the point aimed at, for I had 
no sooner beheld it and the exact position in which it 
lay than the whole phantasmagoria passed away, and 
once more the shining image of a living and celestially 
beautiful Constance stood before me. 

Again the air seemed to syllable forth the words, w I 
am free, happy, and immortal," and "I have kept my 
promise," when again, but this time far more gradually, 
the angelic vision melted out, leaving the pattern of the 
mosaic on the floor, gilded only by the bright moonbeam, 
and the diamond panes of the casement, shadowed only 
by the white jasmine that was trained over the house. 

Moonlight reigned supreme, the shadow was gone ; but 
ah me ! it had been the shadow of an eternity of sun- 
beams. ISTever did I realize such a profound gloom, such 
an insufferably thick atmosphere, such " darkness made 
visible," as the absence of this radiant creature left 
behind. Whilst she stayed it seemed as if sorrow, evil, 
or suffering had never had an existence ; life and being 
throughout was a mighty ecstacy : and now she had taken 
all the joy and sunlight out of the world, and that — for- 
ever. 

The recital of the previous night's vision, every item 



60 GHOST LAND. 

of which I faithfully related to Professor von Marx the 
next morning, found in him a grave, attentive, but still 
unmoved listener. 

He did not seem to doubt but that Constance Miiller 
was dead. He made no remarks upon the appearances 
which, I passionately declared, inferred that she had 
suffered death by violence. To all this he simply said, 
"We shall see"; but when I strove to convince him 
that the apparition of a soul after death, and that with 
all the signs of life and tokens of intelligence, must 
prove a continued existence, he seemed roused to his 
usual tone of dogmatic assertion. He repeated what 
he had often insisted upon before, — namely, that the life 
emanations called "soul" did often subsist for a short, 
period after death, and appear as an organic form, but 
he still maintained that was no proof of immortality, 
since such essences soon disintegrated, and became as 
scattered and inorganic as the body they had once 
inhabited. 

When I urged the words I had heard from the beau- 
tiful phantom, he insisted they were the reflections of 
my own thoughts, associated with the appearance of one 
who believed in idle superstitions, and to my plea that 
the dress of pure, glistening white in wliich the figure 
was arrayed could be no reflex of my mind, whilst the 
buoyant happiness that sparkled on her angelic face 
bore little or no resemblance to the sad, faded original, 
he replied that as the essence was pure and unalloyed 
by the earthy, so when I beheld the essence actually 
disengaged from the earthy, I should see it clothed in 
an image of its own beauty, light, and purity. I was 
silenced, but not convinced. Two days later Professor 
von Marx stood with me knocking at Herr Miiller's 
chamber door. The professor himself opened it, and 



GHOST LAND. 61 

anticipated all we might have to say by informing us, 
gravely, that he had been unfortunate enough to lose 
his niece "by a sudden attack of putrid fever," which 
had compelled her speedy interment, the ceremony of 
which he had been just attending. 

"I knew that Fraulein Miiller was no more," replied 
my teacher, in a voice which, despite his philosophy, 
was something moved and broken, "and I called thus 
early, not to condole with you, for I know your resolved 
stoicism, but to ask if you are willing to let my dear 
young friend here make purchase of your niece's harp. 
You know the young people were much attached to 
each other, and Louis is anxious to possess this sou- 
venir of his beloved friend." I could not speak; a 
choking sensation was in my throat, and I was aston- 
ished at the cool invention, by which Herr von Marx 
was trying the truth of my clairvoyance; but I lis- 
tened breathlessly for the reply. 

"I had her harp, desk, books, and other matters which 
might have been rendered unsalable by the contagion 
of the fever, removed," replied Herr von Miiller, with 
a slight shade of confusion in his manner. " I did not 
want a crowd of persons hovering around the sufferer 
in her dying moments, hence I had the apartment 
cleared in an early stage of her disease." 

"Is there nothing my young friend could procure 
from this much venerated spot?" persisted my crafty 
ally. 

"I do not well know," replied the other, completely 
thrown off his guard; "but if you desire it, you can 
step in and inspect the apartment." 

Following the two strangely matched associates into 
the desolate shrine from which the saint had been 
removed, I gazed around only to see a perfect fac-simile 



62 GHOST LAND. 

of the scene I had beheld in vision. It was evident the 
quick, furtive glances of Professor von Marx were 
directed towards the same end as my own. Suddenly 
he stopped before a dark picture hanging on the wall, 
and standing in a line between me and Herr Miiller, 
directed his attention to something which he pretended 
to call remarkable in the painting, thus giving me the 
opportunity to cross the room hastily, draw out a couch 
in the corner, and gather up from behind it a blaclc rib- 
bon and gold locket, which had lain there apparently 
unnoticed till then. Professor von Marx never lost 
sight of me for an instant, and no sooner saw me 
secrete my treasure in my bosom than he said abruptly, 
K Come, Louis, I don't like the atmosphere of the place. 
Herr Miiller is right: the contagion of death lingers 
around; there is nothing left here now that you can 
desire to have. J^et us go." 

As we returned to our lodgings the professor 
silenced my deep and angry murmurs against the man 
we had just left by a variety of sophistries with which 
he was always familiar. One of these was the total 
indifference with which all the Brotherhood regarded 
the lives of those who were not of their order. It 
mattered little, he said, how poor Constance's thread of 
being was finally cut short, since it was evidently too 
attenuated to spin out to any much greater length than 
it had already attained ; and finally, if I would persist, he 
said, in indulging in unrestrained and pernicious bursts 
of passion, I should mar the necessary passivity and 
equilibrium so essential to pure clairvoyance, and he 
should lose the best K lucid " in the world. 

Before we parted for the night the professor asked 
me if I had ever seen or heard of Zwingler, the iBohe- 
mi an. 



GHOST LAND. 63 

"Who is he?" I asked, indifferently. 

"Yon have never seen or heard of Zwingler? Then," 
he rejoined, " you have something to learn, another les- 
son to take, one, I think, that will help to dissipate your 
faith in the myth of immortality, and throw some light 
on the question of apparitions. 

w Come with me to-morrow, Louis, to Sophien Stradt. 
There I will introduce you to Zwingler, and in his per- 
son to one of the phenomenal wonders of the age ; and 
Louis," he added, after a moment's pause, as we shook 
hands at parting, K carry that ribbon and locket some- 
where about you — poor Constance's jewel, I mean. 
"We may find a singular use for it. Good-night." 



CHAPTEK IV- 



ZWETOLER, THE BOHEMIAN". 



To fulfil the promise which my teacher had made me 
of visiting Zwingler, we mounted several flights of 
stairs in an old house in Sophien Stradt, and at last 
reached a landing upon which many persons were con- 
gregated about and around an open door, through 
which I was led by Professor von Marx into a large 
apartment, shabbily furnished, and half filled with 
loungers, amongst whom I recognized more than one 
official of the constabulary force of the city. 

Pushing his way through the assembled company to 
a sort of recess at the far end of the room, the profes- 
sor addressed himself to a little, black-eyed, Oriental- 
looking individual, who was seated on a table, dangling 
his legs, and fidgeting restlessly about, whilst a grave 
official, in the habit of a notary, was taking down depo- 
sitions or making notes from what the other was saying. 
The moment the little man set eyes on the professor, 
he sprang from the table, and seizing his hand with a 
sort of fawning, propitiatory air, which seemed more 
like the action of deferential fear than real cordiality, 
he cried, " Ah, my prince of the powers of the air ! 
welcome ! ever welcome to Zwingler, but more especi- 
ally at this time, when a most wonderful phase of your 
art, that is to say, of mine, or the devil's or some of 
his imps', for what I know, has just been perpetrated 



GHOST LAND. 65 

through my innocent instrumentality." The little man 
whilst speaking manifested all the feverish excitement 
Of an actor anxious to overdo his part, at the same time 
obviously desirous to interest his listener, as one of 
whom he stood in some awe. "Without paying any 
attention to this speech, Professor von Marx, turning 
to me, said calmly, " Louis, this is Zwingler." 

" Adept ! " (to Zwingler) " a pupil of mine, for whose 
benefit I wish you to recite some little fragments of your 
experience ; " then, seating himself upon the table from 
which the Bohemian had dismounted, and motioning 
me to a stool by his side, he proceeded, addressing 
the notary, to whom he had slightly nodded, " Well, 
Herr Reinhardt, what new discoveries has our lively 
little sleuth-hound been making?" 

" Oh, nothing out of the common line, professor," 
replied the other, in a grave official drawl. " We 've 
caught the murderer of Frau Ebenstein ; that 's all." 

"That's all?" cried the Bohemian, with a tone and 
gesture of almost frantic excitement. " That's all, is it? 
Slave of the dull earth and the duller prison watch and 
ward! All is it, to traverse nearly two hundred miles 
of ground, cross three rivers, plunge through marshes, 
scale mountain heights, pierce the forest, sink through 
the cavern's depths, and toss on the roaring rapids of 
the terrific Schwartz cataract; and still never to lose — 
no, not for a single moment — the scent of an invisible 
and unknown mortal, whom these eyes had never beheld, 
whom these hands had never touched, and of whom no 
sign, no symbol, no token in the realms of earthly ex- 
istence could be found, except by me, Zwingler ! " 

As he spoke, he beat his breast, and elevated his 
glittering black eye to the heavens in an attitude of 
half-ecstatic frenzy. 

5 



66 GHOST LAND. 

The notary, without the slightest change of feature, 
continued to write, wholly unmindful of his rhapsody; 
but Professor von Marx, fixing his deep, piercing dark 
eyes upon the Bohemian, said in a calm, soothing tone, 
as if he were attempting to subdue a fractious child, 
"You are a marvellous being, indeed, Zwingler, and 
that all the world knows. Come now! there's a good 
fellow, tell us all about it. Sit down — no, not there — 
there, at my feet; so, that will do. ^Tow, relate the 
whole story; we will listen most patiently and admire 
most fervently," he added, speaking aside to me in 
Spanish. " Peinember, I have not seen you for two 
months, and only yesterday heard that you had returned 
in triumph from your long pilgrimage. When I was 
last here, the tidings had just reached us that Frau 
Ebenstein, the rich widow of Baden Baden, had been 
foully murdered, her house sacked and plundered, and 
her destroyer — " 

" An unknown, " broke in the notary, as if impatient 
to recite details which were specially in the line of 
his duty, " an unknown, whether male or female also 
unknown, but supposed to be the former on account of 
blood-stained footprints, marks of a large thumb and 
finger on neck of the deceased, and a torn neckerchief, 
evidently a man's, part of which was clutched in the 
fingers of said deceased, and part of which was found 
beneath the couch, saturated with gore, and rent, as if 
in a violent struggle." 

As the speaker proceeded, strong shudderings seized 
the frame of the Bohemian, though the hand of Profes- 
sor von Marx, laid lightly on his shoulder, for a time 
subdued the spasms and quelled them into slight shiv- 
erings; but when the neckerchief was mentioned, the 
little creature's excitement was frightful to behold. He 



GHOST LAND, 67 

writhed like an eel beneath the touch of the professor, 
who at last, raising his hand, said quietly, " Now, Zwin- 
gler, proceed. Tell the rest in your own way." 

w Yes, yes, I will tell," he cried. "I always do. 
"When did I ever fail? Answer me that, prince of 
the air; answer me!" 

" Never, my king of adepts ; but go on." 
" They brought me that neckerchief, then, mein Her- 
ren," he continued, as if addressing a vast assembly, but 
without looking at any of the loungers in the outer apart- 
ment, who now closed up about him ; K and lo ! as I 
clutched it, I saw — yes, instantly, I saw a dark-browed, 
broad-shouldered Dutch serving-man, — the man of blood, 
the man who did the deed. I swear it ! I saw him do it. 
I saw him and the whole act; and oh, how horrible it 
was ! how cruel ! how cowardly ! and the poor, poor old 
Frau! I saw her too, — saw her struggle, plead, choke, 
die! All this I saw, — out of that neckerchief, mein 
Herren! Instantly, as I touched it, it came like a flash, 
a flash of darkness, but full of the scene I describe, and 
full , too, of all its horror. Gott in Himmel ! Then it went 
as all scenes do after the flash I get of them as I touch 
the thing ; after that I said * Give me my shoes ; I must 
walk far. Put me a cup to scoop up water with in my 
wallet, give me my staff, and let me go.' I had been 
hungry and was about to dine, but I hungered no more ; 
no, not for seven long days did I touch other food than 
the nuts and berries close to the path streaked with the 
murderer's life, and the water of the rivers, streams, and 
cataract he had crossed ; but I will tell you all. Listen ! 
As I made to go, I chose my path as I always do, because 
a long black line seemed to stream out from the necker- 
chief I held in my hand, and point ever on the way I 
should go. It led me through the city; it pointed me 



68 GHOST LAND. 

into a low inn where he had stopped to rest. I told them 
such a man had been there. They shuddered, and said 
to one another, ? Zwingler ! ' and then to me, r He has 
been and gone.' I knew it; but the way he had taken 
was still pointed by the black line. I know what you 
were going to say, professor; I see your thought. You 
want to know if I see the line I speak of with my eyes, 
my very eyes, or my soul's eyes. I reply, * With both.' 
My soul feels the line, and it draws me on, and seems 
like a cord dragging at the object I hold, and pulling me 
in the direction I must take to arrive at the owner of 
that object. Sometimes I seem to see the line, and then 
I do not feel it pull, but it never leaves one sense or the 
other — sight or feeling — until I abandon the object or 
find the person to whom it has belonged. "Well, sirs, 
thus it led me on, day and night, never suffering me to 
get out of his track. It guided me through several vil- 
lages and some towns, and wherever it was the thickest 
and most palpable, there he had stopped to take rest or 
refreshment, and there I said, r Such and such a man has 
been here ' ; and they answered with a shudder, * Zwin- 
gler! he has come and gone.' 

"I rested sometimes, but ever on the ground, — the 
ground he had trodden; and then the black, vapory 
cord seemed to coil up all around me like a misty gar- 
ment. I tried to rest once on a bed he had occupied, 
but O Heaven ! all the scene of the murder was there. 
I heard her shriek, I saw her struggle, and what was 
still more horrible, it seemed to me that I was the mur- 
derer, and was actually doing the deed over again. I 
fled from the place, and should have lost the track had 
I not returned to it again, and started afresh from that 
house. 

" To one like me, professor, that house will always be 



GHOST LAND. 69 

haunted; that is, until the murderer's shade melts away 
from it; and it will do so in time. I answer your 
thought again, you see, professor. It was near mid- 
night, some time — I can not tell how long — after I had 
started, that the black cord began to thicken and spread, 
and at length to assume the shape of a man. 

"It trembled and quivered, and at first was only the 
indistinct outline of a man, but presently it grew more 
and more dense, and now behold ! It was the ghost of 
the Dutch serving-man in full, walking just so far 
before me, above the ground one foot, and ever look- 
ing over its shoulder at something coming after it. 
That man went to a great many places in the town 
I was now hunting through, for the ghost was at every 
street-corner and in every alley, and lurking in all the 
dark lanes and by-streets ; and though I knew he must 
be close at hand, by the density of the ghost, still he 
had wandered and wandered, and lurked about in so 
many places that I should have become confused had 
not both senses been suddenly appealed to at once. 
I saw him, and at last I felt him. I felt him, as it were, 
tugging at the neckerchief in my hand, and striving — 

holy martyrs, how he strove! — to get it away from 
me. 

w Sirs, he was just then thinking about that necker- 
chief, remembering he had lost it in the murdered lady's 
room, and wishing he had got it, and cursing his folly, 
and mentally longing, longing to get it back. Lucky 
for me he did think thus, for his thought, being set on 
the neckerchief, pulled at it so frantically that it led me 
straight to his hiding-place, and there and then, when 

1 saw him, and screamed that that was the murderer of 
Frau Ebenstein, and the landlord and guests of the inn 
cried c Zwingler, Zwingler!' he uttered a great cry, and 



70 GHOST LAND. 

fell as if he had been struck; and then it was they cap- 
tured him and brought him thither/' 

"Ay! and the strangest fact of all this is, gentle- 
men," broke in the grave notary, unable to keep silence 
any longer, "that this wretch had changed his dress 
ever so many times, and when this wonderful Bohemian 
here tracked him to his lair, he was disguised as a sailor, 
and so disguised that none but the devil, or perhaps his 
particular ally, Zwingler, could have found him out." 

" Pshaw ! " replied the Bohemian, scornfully, " what 
know you burghers of my art? I do not track the 
clothes of the man, but the man. His soul was in his 
hand, on his neck, and in the neckerchief around it 
when he did the deed. The sleuth-hound senses his 
human game through the organ of smell. I sense it 
through smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing. I sense 
soul through perception. Every thing, every place, 
where soul has been, is full of it; and once give me a 
link, a single thread of association, such as an object 
the soul I would track out has come into contact with, 
and the depths of the sea can not hide it, the mountains 
can not cover it, the disguise of a monarch or the rags 
of a beggar can not conceal the identity of the man 
whose soul Zwingler would track out. But remember, 
mein Herren, Zwingler tracks souls, not masking 
habits." 

The little Bohemian's slight form seemed to expand, 
as he spoke with impassioned gesture and rapid utter- 
ance, into the proportions of a giant; and as he turned 
away to reply to some question addressed to him by 
one of his admiring auditors, the professor murmured 
in my ear, " He has detected more criminals in this way 
than all the constabulary of Germany. Give him but a 
garment, a lock of hair, or even a rag that has come in 



GHOST LAND. 71 

contact with a living organism, and he will track out its 
owner with a fidelity unmatched by the best blood- 
hound that ever ran." Then addressing the Bohemian, 
he said aloud, "Glorious Zwingier! as wise as you 
are gifted, tell my foolish young son here what you 
mean by a soul. He is eager to learn of you what 
soul really is." 

" Soul is the life, my prince ; you know that," replied 
Zwingier, half daunted, as he always seemed to be when 
addressing Professor von Marx. 

"You think, then, soul is just the life principle and 
nothing more ; that which keeps the man alive ; is that 
so?" 

"What else can it be?" 

"But what is the c black cord' you speak of, what the 
essence which clings to substances and enables you to 
describe or sense the person from whom it has flowed 
out?" 

" The soul, of course, great master." 

"Is the soul, then, a substance? " ^ 

"Is the air a substance, the wind a substance? You 
can not see or feel either until they come into contact 
with some other substance, and when they do, although 
invisible, you know they are something. The soul is 
finer than air, thinner and more ethereal than wind, and 
only some souls as fine and pure as mine can sense it. 
But when a Marx can sense the air, and feel the wind, 
a Zwingier can sense the soul and feel the substance." 

"Admirable, my little philosopher! and now, one 
question more: "What do you suppose becomes of the 
soul after a man dies ? " 

"Pshaw, learned master! why ask me so foolish a 
question? WTiat becomes of the body after a man 
dies? WTiy not ask me that?" 



72 GHOST LAND. 

"Why not indeed?" muttered the professor, glancing 
triumphantly at me. w But, Zwingler, if the form of a 
soul can appear whilst a man lives, can it not and does 
it not appear sometimes after death?" 

"Does not the body appear too, if you look for it? 
Surely it does not all fade away at once, but decays and 
corrupts and at last disappears. J$o doubt soul and 
body both wear away, fade out, and melt into their 
original elements when they become separated, as at 
death. No doubt, too, some can see only the body, and 
some, like Zwingler,. can see the soul as well; but both 
live only when they are together, and die when they 
are apart;" then contracting his singularly mobile fea- 
tures into a frown of impatience, he cried, irritably, 
" But why torment me, and make me talk about things 
which only you great professors understand? I hate to 
think of death! I loathe it! I — I — fear it! I wish I 
could live forever ! " He was about to dart away, when 
Professor von Marx laid a hand gently on his arm; the 
Bohemian stood as if transfixed, and muttered submis- 
sively, "What more would you have of me, great 
professor?" 

" Only to accept this slight token of my young friend's 
gratitude for your instructive narrative, adept," replied 
the professor; and as he spoke, Herr von Marx sud- 
denly snatched from me the locket and ribbon of poor 
Constance, which I held as he had desired during the 
interview in my right hand, and which he now as 
suddenly placed in Zwingler's. 

Before I could pronounce a word of protest against 
this unexpected and unwelcome transfer, the Bohemian 
clutched at the ornament with an action so fearfully 
spasmodic and full of terror that the words I would 
have uttered died on my lips. "Death again!" he mur- 



GHOST LAND. 73 

mured, with a strangely piteous accent. "Ever sur- 
rounded with the faded blossoms of dead souls! But 
ah me! this was a cruel death, — so young, so fair, so 
innocent; and destroyed, too, by the hand of him who 
should have been her protector! Herr Professor, I 
shall not have far to go to trace the soul of him who 
did this deed of blood." 

"Hush, little dreamer!" responded the professor in 
a low whisper; "your art is not wanted here. Stay! 
I will change the token. Keep this, and be silent or 
worse will come of it." So saying, he took back the 
locket, returning it to me, and placing several gold 
pieces in the Bohemian's hand, led me through the 
crowd, who opened reverentially to permit the learned 
and celebrated Professor von Marx to pass through. 
At home again, and in our quiet lodgings, the ominous 
silence of the last hour between Professor von Marx 
and myself was thus broken : — 

"What think you of Zwingler, my Louis?" 

"What think you of the death, or rather the murder, 
of Constance Miiller, my master?" 

"Ever harping on a worn-out theme and irrevocable 
past, silly boy! Science must, will, and shall have its 
martyrs, Louis, and woe to the progress of the race 
when idle emotion erects itself to match the interests 
of science. Enough, once and forever, of this. What 
think you of Zwingler?" 

"He fails to convince me that an apparition of a soul 
after death is only an apparition." 

"Then, what is it before death?" 

? Ay! that is the question." 

" Zwingler's mode of philosophizing is crude enough," 
replied Herr von Marx, "but the philosophy itself is 
unanswerable. Like the lower elementary, and the 



74 GHOST LAND. 

higher planetary spirits, the soul of man, the finest and 
most sublimated condition in which matter exists, inheres 
to all coarser forms, and thus it can be sensed, as Zwin- 
gler calls it, as a sphere, sometimes in a premonition of 
its approach, sometimes in the feeling of indescribable 
repulsion or attraction which we conceive for strangers 
even as we approach them. Sometimes it can be seen 
in bodily shape, apart from the body, as in the case of 
the ? double' or * atmospheric spirit,' and sometimes it 
can be seen when it has separated entirely from the 
body, ere it is quite resolved back again into its origi- 
nal elements. And that is all." 

"And that is all," I mechanically repeated, feeling, 
however, at the same time that the professor was 
merely reciting a lesson in a form of words familiar 
to him, whilst his spirit was strangely abstracted, and 
his manner vague and wandering as my own when I 
repeated his last words. 

As the professor and myself relapsed into deep silence, 
a chiming as of very distant bells was heard in the air ; a 
singular radiance stole through the dim twilight obscu- 
rity of our chamber, and settled about the table strewed 
with books, at which in the past morning I had been 
studying. That radiance at first appeared like a shim- 
mering fire-mist; then it expanded, bent, curled, and at 
last seemed to weave itself into the proportions of a 
human form. Clearer, brighter, stronger grew the vis- 
ion; at length the mists rose and parted on either side, 
disclosing the shining apparition and seraphic features 
of the dead Constance. Turning her head of sunny 
glory towards me, she smiled, then bent over the table, 
seemed to select with swift action a large Lutheran Bible 
from a heap of books, opened it, took up the locket and 
black ribbon I had laid down near it, placed the ribbon 



GHOST LAND. 75 

like a mark across a certain passage, pointed to it em- 
phatically three times, then with such a smile as a mortal 
could scarcely look upon and live, she vanished from my 
sight, and all was darkness. 

What followed, or how long I may have remained 
unconscious of life and being, after this vision, I know 
not; but my first recognition of passing events was the 
sound of Herr von Marx's voice speaking through the 
thick darkness of night which had fallen upon us, say- 
ing, "Louis, are you awake? Surely, I must have had a 
long sleep, for the night has stolen upon me unawares." 

The janitor at this moment entered with lights, and 
placed them on a sideboard. The professor, rising from 
his seat, took one of the lamps, and advancing to the table 
held it over the open Bible, at the same time exclaiming 
in a voice of singular agitation, " Who has marked these 
passages?" 

I advanced, looked over his shoulder, and saw him 
remove the ribbon and locket, only to disclose several 
deep black lines, drawn as if with Indian ink, beneath 
the following words, in different parts of the fifteenth 
chapter of the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. 

" There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual 
body." 

" Behold I show you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed." 

" Death is swallowed up in victory." 

" O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 
victory?" 



CHAPTEE Y. 

MAGIC EST ENGLAND. 

Before I had completed my educational term in 
Europe, I had the misfortune to lose my good father ; 
but immediately after his death I received letters from 
my mother and our Hindoo connections, directing me 
to enter upon a course of study in a certain military 
school in England, where I was to fit myself for follow- 
ing my father's profession of arms in India. 

Although I was greatly averse to this course, and 
would have preferred any other occupation rather than 
that of a soldier, I found the arrangements for my con- 
tinuance in Europe were made contingent upon my 
compliance with these directions, and I had become so 
warmly attached to Professor von Marx, and his affec- 
tion for me had become such an indispensable element 
in my existence, that I was willing to avail myself of 
any opportunity that would enable me to remain near 
him, if not absolutely so much in his society as formerly. 

My mother informed me that honorable distinction and 
rapid military promotion awaited me in India, through 
the influence of my father's connections and the high 
estimation in which his noble services had been held, 
and she besought me not to blight all the hopes she had 
founded upon my compliance and good conduct, and 
concluded by referring me to the parties in Europe who 
would carry out her wishes by providing for my studies 



GHOST LAND. 77 

in the English military school. Professor von Marx 
seemed half amused as well as not a little pleased with 
the sorrow and reluctance I exhibited at the prospect of 
my separation from him. He told me his professorship 
at B— had been accepted rather as a means of divert- 
ing attention from the more occult pursuits he delighted 
in, than from any necessity on his part to occupy him- 
self in scholastic duties. 

Being, as he said, free to come and go as he pleased, 
and having conceived an attachment for me which 
would render our separation mutually painful, while he 
advised me not to oppose the wishes of my friends in 
their choice of a profession, he completely reconciled 
me to my enforced absence from Germany by fre- 
quently visiting me in England, and spending much 
of his time in a quiet lodging near my school, where he 
occupied himself in his favorite studies, and enabled me 
to pass all my leisure hours in his society. Once more, 
then, we devoted ourselves to the experiments in which 
we had been engaged with the Berlin Brotherhood, and 
as I invariably spent my vacations at my beloved 

friend's residence near the college at B , I troubled 

myself but little about the new views of life that had 
been opened up to me. My mother had consented to 
my remaining with Professor von Marx until I should 
have completed my twenty-second year; but as time 
sped on, and the attachment between myself and the 
professor deepened, the links which bound me to that 
strange man seemed to have become interwoven with 
my very heart-strings, and to contemplate rending 
them asunder was to me an idea fraught with indescrib- 
able anguish. After the lapse of many years of time, 
and with every youthful heart-throb stilled into the 
calm of waiting expectation until the mighty change 



78 GHOST LAND. 

shall come, even now I can hardly recall the life of 
indescribable oneness and magnetic sympathy which 
attached me to my singular associate without amaze- 
ment that .the identity of one human being should have 
become so entirely merged in that of another. In his 
presence I felt strong to act, clear to think, and prompt 
to speak; yet by some strange fatuity, it seemed to me 
as if acts, thoughts, and words took their shape from 
him, and without the least effort on my part to discover 
or inquire his will, I know that I lived beneath its influ- 
ence, and derived my chief motives for speech and 
action from the silent flow of his thoughts. When I 
was absent from him, I became an indescribably lost 
creature. I was dreamy, uncertain, wandering; not so 
much a child as a being without a soul, — one in whom 
instinct remained, but self-consciousness lacked the 
pivot on which to revolve, and hence the wheels of 
mind vibrated and swung to and fro, searching for the 
sustaining power on which to anchor. 

I can now discern the secret of this mystic spell, 
although I do not know that I have ever had the oppor- 
tunity of observing a case in which one soul had ac- 
quired over another an equal amount of control. The 
magnetic life of Professor von Marx had been infused 
into my system until I was a part of himself; his 
strong and persuasive will had pierced my very brain, 
until it had found a lodgment in the innermost seat of 
intelligence. 

By a mutual understanding, though without any out- 
ward expression in words, I considered myself the 
adopted son of Professor von Marx, and I not only 
felt restful and happy in this tacit arrangement, but I 
vaguely speculated upon the possibility of my soul's 
becoming soon separated from the frail tenement it 



GHOST LAND. ' 79 

inhabited, and perhaps absorbed in the grander and 
more exalted entity of the being I so strangely idolized. 

I do not know to this day how far the professor real- 
ized his magical power over me. He knew that I read 
his thoughts like an open page. He was able to con- 
ceal or reveal his will to me at pleasure, and without a 
word spoken. I knew when he willed to shut his 
thought from me, and at such times I was a blank. 

When there was no such mental wall erected between 
us, all was as clear and lucid to me as if he were my- 
self. I prepared myself to walk or ride with him, came 
and went as he wished, and all without a word spoken 
or a gesture made. 

Professor von Marx was, I now know, fondly at- 
tached to me, and, I think, pitied my fearful subjection 
to his will even whilst he enjoyed its triumphant 
exercise. 

This true gentleman was gravely courteous to the 
female sex, but never seemed to realize the slightest 
attraction towards them as companions. He under- 
stood them, as indeed he understood every one he 
approached; but though he never conversed with me 
on the subject, I perceived that he viewed the yielding 
and intuitive characteristics of the female mind with 
lofty contempt, and his intense and all-absorbing devo- 
tion to the peculiar studies he had adopted made him 
coldly indifferent to the attractions of female beauty. 
Eminently handsome in person, and polished though 
cold in manner, he might have commanded the adora- 
tion of even the fairest in any land. Why I alone, of 
all the human family, ever seemed to move his stoical 
heart to the least emotion can only be accounted for on 
the hypothesis that there was something of a reciprocal 
action in the magnetic processes which had so wonder- 



80 GHOST LAND. 

fully bound me to him, and that in the absorption of 
his magnetic influence on my part, he involuntarily 
received in exchange influences from the elemental 
life which he displaced in my organism. Magnetizers 
not unfrequently imbibe some of the qualities of disease, 
or even the psychological tendencies of their patients, 
and call it sympathy. 

When the term of my studies at the English military 
school ended, I accompanied my beloved friend on a 
tour through Europe and the East, which occupied us 
for many months, at the end of which, Professor von 
Marx informed me that his presence would be required 
for several months in London, upon business of impor- 
tance connected with the interests of a certain society 
with which he was associated. As I had never visited 
the great British capital, my dear master promised him- 
self much satisfaction from my introduction to a highly 
esteemed English friend of his, and the opportunity that 
would be afforded me for observing the progress of 
occultism amongst its votaries in England. 

Dark, blighting, and inauspicious was the day when 
first Professor von Marx and myself established our- 
selves in an old-fashioned, time-worn mansion, a portion 
of which we were to rent during our stay in London. 
The fire blazed in the grate, and the mellow light of 
softly gleaming lamps lent a cheering lustre to the scene, 
however, as we sat, on the first evening of our arrival, in 
company with two guests to whom we had dispatched 
letters of introduction, and who had hastened to wel- 
come us, at the earliest possible moment, to the British 
metropolis. 

One of our visitors, a gentleman of most estimable 
character and high social position, was an old college 
companion of Professor von Marx, and it appears that 



GHOST LAND. 81 

in early youth they had been sworn friends, and associ- 
ates in many of the societies to which the professor 
belonged. This gentleman, who subsequently enacted 
a most important part in the drama of my own fateful 
life, I do not feel at liberty to name, but for the sake 
of perspicuity I shall beg my readers to recognize his 
frequent appearances in these pages under the nom de 
plume of Mr. John Cavendish Dudley. The person- 
age who accompanied Mr. Dudley was, like himself, a 
distinguished occultist, but his chief object in making us 
this early visit was to press upon us the hospitalities of 
his town and country residences ; in fact, he was, as he 
expressed it, burning with impatience to renew his early 
intimacy with the esteemed friend of his boyhood, Felix 
von Marx, and he could scarcely be persuaded that the 
professor was immovable in his resolution to retain a 
private home for himself and his adopted son, as he 
called me, during our stay in England, and only to make 
occasional visits from thence to the houses of friends. 

Mr. Dudley and his companion, Sir James M -, 

were very enthusiastic in their description of the won- 
derful seances they enjoyed amongst the occultists of 
Great Britain. They surprised us by citing the names 
of a great many persons highly distinguished both in 
the ranks of fashion and literature, who were members 
of the British branch of an association to which Profes- 
sor von Marx had been elected an honorary member, 
and to which they both belonged. They assured us the 
professor's high renown as an adept of the most remark- 
able power, and mine as the famous somnambulist of 
the Berlin Brotherhood, had already preceded us, and 
our arrival was looked forward to with the utmost impa- 
tience by the students of occultism in Great Britain. 

They expected much of us too, because they were led 



82 GHOST LAND. 

to believe the German mind was more than ordinarily 
capable of analyzing the unseen, and mastering the 
mysteries of the imponderable. A few hours conversa- 
tion with these gentlemen, however, convinced us that 
in point of varied experience, their magical information 
was not quite equal to our own, though they had visited 
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and almost every 
part of Scandinavia, carefully acquainting themselves 
with the wild legendary lore of those regions, and 
taking part in many of their singular ceremonies of 
spiritual invocation. 

In Lapland, Finland, and the northeastern part of 
Russia, our new acquaintances had beheld so many 
evidences of inborn occult powers amongst the natives 
that they had come to a conclusion which the well-in- 
formed Spiritualist of modern times will no doubt be 
ready to endorse, and that is, that certain individuals 
of the race are so peculiarly and organically endowed, 
that they live, as it were, on the borders of the invisible 
world, and from time to time see, hear, act, and think 
under its influence, as naturally as other individuals do 
who are only capable of sensing material and external 
things. 

Moreover, our friends had arrived at the opinion that 
certain localities and climatic influences were favorable 
or otherwise to the development of these innate occult 
endowments. 

Experience had shown them that mountainous regions 
or highly rarefied atmospheres constituted the best phys- 
ical conditions for the evolvement of magical powers, and 
they therefore argued that the great prevalence of super- 
mundane beliefs and legendary lore in those latitudes 
arises from the fact that intercourse with the interior 
realms of being is the universal experience of the peo- 



GHOST LAND. 83 

pie, not that they are more ignorant or superstitious 
than other races. Mr. Dudley had brought to England 
with him a schaman, or priest, of a certain district in 
Russia, where he had given extraordinary evidences of 
his powers. This man's custom was to array himself 
in a robe of state, trimmed with the finest furs and 
loaded with precious stones, amongst which clear crys- 
tals were the most esteemed. 

In this costume, with head, arms, and feet bare, the 
schaman would proceed to beat a magical drum, made 
after a peculiar fashion, and adorned with a variety of 
symbolical and fantastic paintings. 

Commencing his exercises by simply standing within 
a circle traced on the ground, and beating his drum in 
low, rhythmical cadence to his muttered chantings, the 
schaman would gradually rise to a condition of uncon- 
trollable frenzy; his hands would acquire a muscular 
power and rapidity which caused the drum to resound 
with the wildest clamor, and strokes which defied the 
power of man to count. 

His body, meantime, would sway to and fro, spin 
round, and finally be elevated and even suspended sev- 
eral feet in the air, by a power wholly unknown to the 
witnesses. His cries and gesticulations were frightful, 
and the whole scene of w manticism " would end by the 
performer's sinking on the earth in a rigid cataleptic 
state, during which he spoke oracular sentences, or 
gave answers to questions with a voice which seemed 
to proceed from the air some feet above his prostrate 
form. During my stay in England I was present at 
several experimental performances with this schaman, 
and though he could unquestionably predict the future 
and describe correctly distant places and persons, Pro- 
fessor von Marx and myself were both disappointed in 



84 GHOST LAND. 

the results which we expected to proceed from his very 
elaborate modes of inducing the " mantic " frenzy. Mr. 
Dudley accounted for the inferiority of his protege's 
powers by stating that the atmosphere was prejudicial 
to his peculiar temperament, and though he had striven 
to surround him with favorable conditions, it was ob- 
vious he needed the specialties of his native soil and 
climate for the complete evolvement of the phenomena 
he had been accustomed to exhibit. 

Amongst the distinguished persons into whose soci- 
ety Professor von Marx and myself were now admitted, 
we found several individuals of the magical type, who 
had been imported by earnest students from different 
countries, for the purpose of aiding their investigations. 
One of these mystics was a native of the Isle of Skye, 
and had been remarkable for his gift of w second sight." 
Panoramic representations of future events, with all the 
vivid imagery of well-defined persons and circumstances, 
would be presented to this man's waking vision, like a 
picture daguerreotyped on the atmosphere. 

Another of the marvel-workers was a young Lap- 
lander, whose powers and methods of awakening them 
were not unlike those of the scliaman described above, 
only that he seemed to possess an innate faculty of clair- 
voyant perception, which did not always necessitate the 
magical frenzy to call into play. 

There were several other personages, all imported 
from northern lands, through whom our new friends 
attempted to conduct experiments; but it seemed that 
in each case the powers for which these weird people 
had been distinguished had either diminished or utterly 
failed them when taken away from the influence of their 
home surroundings. The islander from Skye had only 
beheld one vision since he had quitted his native shores, 



GHOST LAND. 85 

and that was the scene of a shipwreck, in which, as he 
affirmed, he was destined to perish, and for which reason 
he had steadily refused to return home, although his 
gifts as a seer were now suspended. It is a curious fact, 
and worthy of record, that this Skye man, having been 
placed iii service as a gardener, was arrested for theft, 
convicted, sentenced to transportation, and after having 
been removed to the convict ship, finally perished in a 
gale, during Avhich the ship, with all her hapless load of 
crime and suffering, was lost. 

"We, that is, my master and myself, saw little or noth- 
ing amongst the w magicians " whom our new friends 
had taken such trouble to surround themselves with, that 
equalled the experiences of our Teutonic associates, but 
our opportunities for enlarging our sphere of observation 
strengthened our belief in the following items of spiritual 
philosophy: first, that there are individvals who possess 
by nature all the prophetical, clairvoyant, and otherwise 
supermundane powers which are only to be evoked in 
different organisms by magical rites or magnetic pro- 
cesses. 

]SText, we found another and a still larger class, who 
seemed externally to have no extraordinary endowments 
of a spiritual nature, yet in whom the most wonderful 
powers of inner light, curative virtue, and prophetic vis- 
ion could be awakened through artificial means, the most 
potent of which were the inhalation of mephitic vapors, 
pungent essences, or narcotics ; the action of clamorous 
noise or soothing music; the process of looking into 
glittering stones and crystals; excessive and violent 
action, especially in a circular direction; and lastly, 
through the exhalations proceeding from the warm 
blood of animated beings. All these influences, to- 
gether with an array of forms, rites, and ceremonials 



86 GHOST LAND. 

which involve mental action and captivate the senses, I 
now affirm to constitute the art of ancient magic, and I 
moreover believe that wherever these processes are sys- 
tematically resorted to, they will, in more or less force, 
according to the susceptibility of the subject, evoke all 
those occult powers known as ecstacy, somnambulism, 
clairvoyance, the gifts of prophecy, healing, etc. 

"We derived another remarkable item of philosophy 
from our researches, which was that under the influ- 
ence of some of the magical processes practised by 
our new associates, the human organism can not only 
be rendered insensible to pain, but that wounds, bruises, 
and even mutilation can be inflicted upon it without 
permanent injury; also, that it can be rendered positive 
to the law of gravitation, and ascend into the air with 
perfect ease. 

Also, the body can be so saturated with magnetism, 
or charged with spiritual essence, that fire can not 
burn it; in a word, when the body becomes enveloped 
in the indestructible essence of spirit, or the soul ele- 
ment, it can be made wholly positive to all material 
laws, transcending them in a way astonishing and 
inexplicable to all uninstructed beholders. Of this 
class of phenomena, history has made such frequent 
mention that I feel justified in calling attention towards 
the array of evidence we possess on the subject. Let 
me refer to the " Convulsionaires of St. Medard"; the 
history of the " French Prophets of Avignon " ; the still 
more recent* accounts of the frightful mental epidemic 
which prevailed in the district of Morzine in 1864; the 
now well-attested facts of supermundane power enacted 
by the fakirs, brahmins, and ecstatics of the East, and 
many of the inexplicable physical and mental phenom- 
ena attributed to monastic "ecstatics." 



GHOST LAND. 87 

Amongst the " Convulsionaires of St. Medard" and 
the possessed peasants of Morzine, one of the most 
familiar demonstrations of an extra-mundane condition 
was the delight and apparent relief which the sufferers 
represented themselves as experiencing when blows, 
violent enough, as it would seem, to have crushed 
them bone by bone, were administered to them. At 
the tomb of the Abbe Paris, and amongst the frenzied 
patients of Morzine, the most pathetic appeals would 
be made that sturdy, powerful men would pound and 
beat their bodies with huge mallets, and the cries of 
"Heavier yet, good brother! Heavier yet, for the love 
of Heaven ! " were amongst the words that were most 
constantly uttered. 

During the fearful struggle maintained by the brave 
and devoted prophets of the Cevennes against their 
oppressors, every history, whether favorable or antag- 
onistic, makes mention of the exhibitions by which 
Cavillac and others of the "inspired" proved their 
ability, under the afflatus of ecstacy, to resist the 
action of fire. 

Amongst a vast number of records concerning the 
mystical power of the spirit to act upon and through 
matter, we may cite the lives of some of those remark- 
able personages canonized by the Catholic Church as 
saints. 

In the experiences of Saint Teresa, Saint Bridgetta, 
Saint Catherine, and many other "holy women/' we are 
confidently informed that an actual " stigmata " was 
developed on their hands, feet, and sides, in imitation 
of the wounds attributed to the martyr of Calvary. 
Their foreheads were encircled by marks as of a crown 
of thorns, and drops of blood were seen to ooze from 
the stigmata at stated periods. 



88 GHOST LAND. 

Of the Arabian fire-eaters and Hindoo ecstatics, I 
shall have more to say hereafter ; for the present I close 
this long and discursive chapter with a few passages of 
explanation concerning the existence of magical prac- 
tices and magical experiments in stern, gloomy, matter- 
of-fact old England. 

Nearly all the English gentlemen to whom Professor 
von Marx had letters of introduction were members of 
secret societies, and, with one exception, pursued their 
studies in the direction of magic, deeming they could 
ultimately resolve the nature and use of all occult 
powers into a scientific system, analogous to the magi- 
cal art as practised in the days of antiquity. The one 
exception which I refer to is an order that owes nothing 
of its working or existence to this age or time. Its 
actual nature is only recognized, spoken, or thought of 
as a dream, a memory of the past, evoked like a phan- 
tom from the realms of tradition or myth ;< yet as surely 
as there is a spirit in man, is there in the world a spir- 
itual, though nameless and almost unknown association 
of men, drawn together by the bonds of soul, associ- 
ated by those interior links which never fade or perish, 
belonging to all times, places, and nations alike. Few 
can attain to the inner light of these spiritually associ- 
ated brethren, or apprehend the significance of their 
order; enough that it is, has been, and will be, until 
all men are spiritualized enough to partake of its 
exalted dispensations. Some members of this sublime 
Brotherhood were in session in England, and their 
presence it was which really sent thither my master and 
myself, at the time of which I write. 

That there should exist within the very heart of 
rationalism and Christian piety, England, more than 
one secret society addicted to magical practices and 



GHOST LAND. 89 

superstitious rites, but above all, that the highest order 
of mystics in the world should be uttering its potent 
spells in the midst of the great modern Babylon, dedi- 
cated to the worship of mammon and pauperism, is a 
statement so startling and original that I expect few 
but the initiated into its actualities to credit me, and 
many of my readers, especially good, honest, matter- 
of-fact English people themselves, to denounce me 
as a lunatic or a modern Munchausen. I can only 
say, I write of that which I know, and of what many 
esteemed and reputable citizens, in their private expe- 
riences, know likewise; and if good, honest, matter-of- 
fact English people would only remember there might 
be realms of being both higher and lower than man's, 
links of connection and mutual understanding through- 
out the universe, and some few things more in heaven 
and earth than they (worthy folk!) dream of in their 
philosophy, the magicians of England would not feel 
compelled, for their credit and honor's sake, to make 
their societies secret ones. 

As it was, the clairvoyants, seers, and weird subjects 
whom the societies procured for their experiments were 
generally employed in families, shops, or some simple 
ways of business, which effectually concealed their real 
characters. The magical experiments were conducted 
with the strictest reserve and caution; and it is only 
since the advent of modern Spiritualism, with its re- 
markable and wide-spread commonplaces in wonderful 
things, that the world has begun to discover that spir- 
itual facts and experiences in Great Britain are several 
years older than the movement of the last quarter of a 
century. 

It was some few weeks after our arrival in London, 
and one night just as I was taking leave of my dear 



90 GHOST LAND. 

master for the night, that the following conversation 
ensued between us. 

"Louis, you have hitherto taken no part amongst 
these English magicians. I have secluded you from all 
exercise of your powers because — but you know the 
reasons, do you not?" 

w Perfectly, my master : you wished me to have some 
rest, and to imbibe fresh force for future efforts; fur- 
thermore, you desired that I should have calm and de- 
liberate opportunities for observation. Is it not so?" 

"You understand me thoroughly; and now, what 
conclusions have you arrived at, from all you have wit- 
nessed? " 

w Conclusions ! O my master, I am more and more 
lost in an ocean of speculation; more wildly tost than 
ever before on the unresting billows of a shoreless sea ! 
I realize the interference and all-persuasive power of 
invisible realms of being, but who or what they are be- 
comes to me each day an ever-deepening mystery. I 
perceive each hour fresh evidences of a wonderful and 
mysterious fountain of influence in human beings, — ay, 
at times in the animal creation also; but who can 
fathom its depths, gauge its possibilities, define where it 
lies, or pronounce upon its destiny? The earth and the 
creatures that live upon it are all dual, and evidently 
maintain a dual existence; but I know no more the 
limitations of my own being than I do of the * double 
goers ' who flash before our eyes like tongues of flame 
or meteoric lights. Alas ! alas ! I think, believe, hope, 
and fear too much, and know too little." 

"You shall know more; know — ay, even the abso- 
lute, soon, my Louis," rejoined the professor, with a 
deeper glow on his cheek and a more brilliant flash of 
his star-like eyes than I had ever seen before; then, 



GHOST LAND. 91 

after a strange, long pause, in which he seemed fixed 
and abstracted like one entranced, he drew a letter from 
his bosom, glanced at it, and heaved a sigh so deep that 
it almost amounted to a wail. That letter he turned 
over several times in his hand, gazing now on the large 
seal which closed it, now on the direction, which was in 
his own bold writing, and marked simply, "To my 
Louis." The painful sigh, the first and only token of 
deep emotion I had ever heard from this man, was re- 
peated several times; at length he placed the letter in 
my hands, saying with an air of singular solemnity, 
"Keep this in the most secret repository you have, 
and never open it until a voice, the most authoritative 
to you on earth, shall say, ? The time has come. Open 
and read!' 

" Good-night, Louis. Your experiences as a mystic in 
England are now about to commence." 

w Good-night, my master," I responded aloud, adding 
mentally, w Would God they were about to close in the 
sleep that knows no waking ! " 

w The death-sleep of earth is the waking life of eter- 
nity," murmured a sweet, low voice, close to my ear. 
I started, and looked for the speaker. Professor von 
Marx was gone, and the luminous apparition of the 
beautiful Constance flitted by me like an electric flash, 
and vanished into the darkness, so much the more pro- 
found that she had been there. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

MAGICAL S^A^CES EN" ENGLAND. 

[No page of retrospect in my fateful life-wanderings 
excites in me more surprise than the inferiority of the 
results obtained through magical processes, when com- 
pared with those which seem to arise spontaneously as 
an organic peculiarity of certain individuals. Our Eng- 
lish associates had studied with profound and scholarly 
research most of the arts of magic recorded by the mys- 
tics of the Middle Ages, the sages of classic lands, and 
the thaumaturgists of the East. Many of them were per- 
fectly well versed in the cabala, with all its veiled mys- 
ticism and apocalyptic significance; some of them had 
been initiated into the rites of both ancient and modern 
freemasonry, and become affiliated with the most poten- 
tial of the Oriental societies now in existence. Like 
Moses, Thales, Orpheus, and other sages of old, they 
had mastered the secrets of Egyptian wisdom, Chaldean 
astrology, and Persian chemistry; yet notwithstanding 
all their occult knowledge and the fidelity with which 
they strove to make it a practical power, they failed to 
achieve the feats common to the whirling dervishes of 
Arabia or the wandering fakirs of modern India, whilst 
the glimpses they obtained of the invisible realms around 
them were vague, unsatisfactory, and partial; indeed, 
many a good somnambulist would have regarded them 
with pity if not contempt, and any powerful " spirit 



GHOST LAND. 93 

medium " of this day could have displayed more pheno- 
mena by aid of a dancing table in five minutes than 
many of these really earnest students could have evolved 
by magical processes in five times five years of profound 
occult experiments. 

The methods of the great majority of the magians I 
was now introduced to may be briefly summed up as 
follows : Their first aim was to secure the services of 
such an one as they could discover to be a good natural 
magician, — one whom the spiritists of to-day would 
call w a good clairvoyant " or " medium," and we Teutons 
style " a seer. " This prerequisite obtained and the 
society in session, they proceeded to form a circle on 
the ground, prepared after the fashion prescribed by Cor- 
nelius Agrippa or some of the mediaeval mystics. They 
formed their book of spirits on the same approved pat- 
terns, and carefully conformed to every item of the magi- 
cal ritual or other formulae declared to have been derived 
from the magians of Egypt and Chaldea and practised 
by such renowned mystics as Thos. Aquinas, Albertus 
Magnus, Nostradamus, Count St. Germain, etc. I found 
the practices of different societies varied but little, and 
consisted chiefly in a due observance of days, hours, 
times, and seasons, planetary, solar, and lunar phases. 
Much reliance was placed on the fumigations said to be 
appropriate to different days of the week, months and 
seasons ; in a word, our English associates had carefully 
studied the formulae of magic as taught in the writings of 
Oriental and classical authorities, and faithfully endeav- 
ored to practicalize the directions laid down, as far as the 
usages of modern society permitted. 

To those who are unfamiliar with the occult subjects 
I am now treating of, let me say with all candor, I 
have faithfully devoted many years to the study of 



94 GHOST LAND. 

spiritual mysteries; and both in my own person and 
that of my numerous associates of many lands have en- 
deavored, by aid of all the light I could obtain, whether 
derived from ancient or modern sources, to discover 
what were the most effective methods of communing 
with the invisible world and penetrating into the actual- 
ities of other realms of being than those of mortality. 
The sum of all, to my apprehension, is that man, to 
obtain this boon, must be born a natural magician, 
or in more familiar phase, "a good spirit medium." 
Also that clairvoyance, clairaudience, seership, and all 
those spiritual gifts by which human beings can attain 
the privilege of communion with spirits, consist in cer- 
tain organic specialties of constitution, naturally apper- 
taining to some individuals, and latent in others, though 
susceptible of unfoldment by modes of culture. I believe 
that forms, rites, and invocatory processes, fumigations, 
spells, — in a word, the science and practice of magic, 
may be applied as means to aid in this communion, and 
are especially potent in enabling the operators to exer- 
cise control over lower orders of spirits than themselves ; 
but I affirm that they are inoperative to open up the 
communion as a primary means, and that without the 
services of a good seer, clairvoyant, or spirit medium, 
magical rites alone cannot succeed in evolving spiritual 
phenomena. This I soon found to have been the gen- 
eral experience of our new associates in England. All 
their magical formulae were subordinate in use to the 
one grand desideratum of a good natural magician. 
Professor von Marx once questioned, in his cold, sar- 
castic way, What was" the use of magical ceremonies at 
all, so long as they could not effect any results without 
the required medium? and having secured this great 
desideratum, would not his or her presence render the 



GHOST LAND. 95 

rites unnecessary? Our friends generally denied this 
position, however, alleging that magical rites were the 
means of culturing and unfolding spiritual gifts; also 
that they were essential to the orderly intercourse with 
spirits, and enabled mortals to command them instead 
of being commanded by them. 

In years of experience subsequent to the period of 
my first visit to England, I have found abundant reason 
to accept opinions composed of both sides of this ques- 
tion. The results of my experiments may some day be 
given to the world in a more practical form than these 
autobiographical sketches.* 

To those unacquainted with the methods of invoca- 
tion enjoined upon the high priest or chief magian 
of these rites, the following examples may not be unin- 
teresting. After all the ceremonies of "purification," 
"ablution," and "fumigation" had been duly complied 
with, the chief magian proceeded to summon the spirit 
of the day, week, and season, after this fashion : — 

" I conjure and confirm upon you, strong, potent, and 
holy angels, in the name of the most dreadful Ado^ai, 
the God of Israel, and by the name of all the angels serv- 
ing in the second host before Tetra, that great, strong, 
and powerful angel, and by the name of his star, and 
by the name of the seal, which is sealed by God most 
mighty and honorable, and by all things before spoken. 
I conjure upon thee, Raphael, the great angel who art 
ruler of the fourth day, that for me thou wilt labor 
and fulfil all my petitions according to my will and 
desire in my cause and business.f " 

* The author has more than redeemed this promise in the publication 
of his magnificent work, ' ; Art Magic." — Ed. Ghost Land. 

+ For a full and complete " Arbatel of Magic," together with the 
names of the angels of the various days and seasons, the fumigations 
proper to each, the modes of preparing the circle, robes, and book of 



96 GHOST LAND. 

Invocations to Elementary spirits were given in a still 
more stringent and compulsory tone. The following 
will serve as a specimen thereof : — 

w Therefore, come ye! come ye, Serapiel, spirit of the 
air, ruling on the fourth day ! Angel of the southwest 
wind, come ye, come ye ! Adonai commandeth. Sadai 
commandeth, — the most high and dreadful king of kings, 
whose power no creature is able to resist. Sadai be 
unto you most dreadful, unless ye obey and forthwith 
appear before this circle; and let miserable ruin and 
fire unquenchable remain with ye, unless ye forthwith 
obey. Therefore, come ye ! in the awful name Tetra- 
gkammaton. "Why tarriest thou? Hasten! Hasten! 
Hasten ! Adonai, the most high, Sadai, king of kings 
commands ! " etc. etc. 

These words, lofty and sounding as they seem, can 
convey only the faintest idea of the fiery zeal and 
urgent ecstacy with which the Invocants were accus- 
tomed to pronounce them. 

The more they could stimulate themselves up to the 
pitch of fervent ecstacy, the more potential became 
the results. On many occasions, where the officiating 
magian was in deep, tremendous earnest, and the assist- 
ants partook of his fervent zeal, I have seen the whole 
assemblage sink on their knees, and break forth into 
uncontrollable sobs, cries, appeals to Heaven, spirits, 
angels, and elementaries. I have felt the walls shake, 
the house tremble; beheld the floor riven apart; fiery 
tongues flash swiftly through the apartment, and forms 
of elemental spirits become visible to all. Hands have 
been seized; many amongst us have been thrown vio- 

spirits, also for all the invocations and other formulae of magical art, 
consult the author's elaborate work on "Art Magic," and the Heptame- 
ron of Peter d'Abano, page 360, " Art Magic." — Ed. Ghost Land. 



GHOST LAND. 97 

lently on the ground, lifted up to the roof, and held 
suspended in the air. The entire scene has been one 
of the most tremendous and occult character, and 
though the experience of modern investigators with 
strong "physical force mediums " may supply abundant 
parallels of such scenes, and furnish what they deem 
to be a complete explanation of its marvels, there can 
be no question that the strong mental efflatus evolved 
by the scene, time, and modes of invocation combined 
to supply the powerful pabulum by which invisible beings 
effected such demonstrations of their presence. 

These magical circles were always effective in the 
production of strong responsive action from the spirit 
world in proportion to the zeal, energy, and ecstatic fer- 
vor of the invocants ; in short, it was the history of the 
Jewish Pentecost re-enacted in the nineteenth century. 

It was the harmonious accord of the assemblage, the 
Pentecostal spirit in which they met, that supplied the 
invisible world with the force which exhibited itself in 
tongues of fire and a w mighty rushing wind." "When 
our magians were most terribly in earnest, their spiritual 
respondents were most obedient and potential. 

l$o doubt the specialty of certain human organisms 
present, always afforded the force necessary for spirits 
to work with. It is possible that our own spirits, too, 
stimulated to ecstacy by the efflatus of our earnest pur- 
pose, operated upon the inanimate objects around us, and 
served as instruments for the achievement of marvellous 
phenomena. I know that Professor von Marx and myself 
were never present at magical seances without obtaining 
results of a spiritualistic character. I believe we both 
furnished the pabulum by which spirits could come into 
coutact with matter ; but whether the wonderful phenom- 
ena we witnessed were the result of direct foreign inter- 



98 GHOST LAND. 

vention or the exercise of our own spiritual faculties 
even Professor von Marx himself could not always 
determine. 

I know it would be proper in this place to anticipate 
the questions of some sincere spiritists concerning the 
character of the beings who were seen at those magi- 
cal circles, and declare whether they were not, as most 
believers in spiritism would expect they would be, the 
apparitions of our deceased friends. On this point I 
answer emphatically in the negative, nay, more, I hardly 
remember at this period of my researches — certainly 
not in these invocatory seances — ever to have seen 
human spirits as the respondents in acts of magic. 
Human spirits were not summoned. Those magians 
did not practise that phase of the art they termed necro- 
mancy, to wit, communion with the spirits of the dead. 
Many of our English associates professed an unconquer- 
able aversion to this idea, and Professor von Marx always 
discountenanced in me the belief that the spirits of the 
dead could subsist much longer than the period neces- 
sary to accomplish the disintegration of the body. No, 
we summoned the spirits of the elements, and they 
responded to us in all the varied forms in which these 
beings exist.* Sometimes we communed with bright 
planetary spirits ; but those radiant beings were rarely 
visible to the whole circle; in fact, were seldom seen 
except by the clairvoyants and somnambulists, of whom 
there were several belonging to these circles besides 
myself. 

If my readers would inquire what beneficial results, 
temporal or spiritual, man could derive from these 
weird communings, I frankly admit I am unable to 

* See " Art Magic " on Elementary Spirits, Sect. 7, p. 102. —Ed. Ghost 
Land. 



GHOST LAND. 99 

answer. Beyond the pursuit of knowledge or the 
attainment of power in some special direction, I do not 
myself realize any benefit from the achievement of in- 
tercourse with elementary spirits. Those beings ap- 
peared to me to be often malevolent and incapable of 
attaining to the perception of good. They seemed to 
look up to man as a god to be feared, propitiated, and 
served; but few of their species realized the good, 
truth, and beauty which belongs to pure reason and 
high exaltation of soul ; hence they naturally resorted to 
mischief, torment, and deceit, as their protection against 
the superior powers of man, and except in a few in- 
stances of communion with the higher realms of "nature 
spirits," I never knew good, happiness, peace of mind, 
or virtuous inspiration result from these intercommun- 
ings. If to know the universe of being, and the nature 
and immensity of the existences that people it, be the 
object sought, the search is legitimate to the philoso- 
pher ; but efforts to attain these communings stimulated 
by mere curiosity, a desire to obtain wealth, discover 
hidden treasures, gain power over the elements, and 
subdue enemies, although often measurably success- 
ful, invariably bring unrest, disappointment, and ulti- 
mate evil to the seeker, and I would earnestly warn 
mankind against the attempt, stimulated, as before sug- 
gested, by purely selfish motives. 

I have had many pleasant interviews with the harm- 
less and innocent spirits of the mines, and those who 
preside over and correspond to the air, fire, and at- 
mosphere. Although rarely identified by mortals, and 
shy of holding direct communication with them, these 
classes of elementaries are still noble and exalted in 
their natures, constantly engaged in directing and in- 
spiring students in the natural sciences, indeed they are 



100 GHOST LAND. 

so intimately related to human destiny that we breathe 
in their influence with every noble thought, and attract 
them, as sparks of intellectual fire, with every aspiration 
we cherish for scientific knowledge. 

During our residence in London we were constant 
attendants and welcome visitors at a circle which for 
distinction I shall name the Orphic Circle. Its pres- 
ident and " Grand Master " was a noble gentleman 
whom I shall call Lord Yivian. 

His methods were inspired by far loftier aims and 
regulated by much more pious aspirations than those of 
most other English magians. The seers, of whom Lord 
Vivian's society numbered several, conducted their ex- 
periments through the mirror and crystal, and the young 
ladies especially who attended these interesting seances, 
were particularly happy in attracting pure and noble 
planetary spirits in response to their call. On one oc- 
casion I attended a seance in London, when a mirror 
was to be presented to a fair young girl, whose acquaint- 
ance I made about twenty years before the date of my 
present writing. 

The seance of which I am about to speak took place 
several years later than the period at which I first visited 
London, and I am anticipating the events of that time 
in referring to it; but as I may not have an opportunity 
of mentioning it again, and the scene in question has 
exercised a most potential influence upon all the suc- 
ceeding years of my life, I shall plead guilty to the 
anachronism of recording its details in this place. 

The party in question consisted of the master of the 
house, three gentlemen, distinguished occultists of the 
country, the young lady before referred to, and her 
chaperone. 

The exercises commenced with a deep and heartfelt 



GHOST LAND. 101 

invocation, the performance of some sweet part-songs, 
and the trance address of the fair somnambulist. This 
beautiful creature, like a Pythoness of old, rapt in 
ecstacy and filled with the divine effiatus, uttered one 
of the most sublime invocations for spiritual light, wis- 
dom, and guidance to the source of all light and knowl- 
edge, I have ever listened to. How cold, lifeless, and 
insincere do the parrot-like prayers of hireling priests 
sound compared to the burning appeals and eloquent 
beseechings of these modern Pythia! If there was 
an angel in the high empyrean of the unknown 
heavens, he must have heard and answered the plead- 
ings of this inspired girl. After the trance invocation 
our host, who was an adept of the modern magical 
school, unveiled the newly-made virgin mirror, and 
consecrated it in due form to Azrael, "the angel of 
life and death," whom the fair seeress had chosen as 
the guardian of her mirror. As its shining surface 
was disclosed to view, the lady, standing before it in a 
lofty attitude of rapt ecstacy, pronounced these words: 
" To Azrael, the shrouded angel, and his twin ministers 
of life and death, and to thee, O Father of spirits and 
Puler of all life and being! I do hereby dedicate the 
service and consecrate the use of this mirror." "When 
the spirit whom this invocation summoned, first ap- 
peared in the mirror, the seeress started, turned pale, 
and with an aspect of terror and aversion beckoned me 
to come and inspect the vision with her. What I then 
saw was as great a surprise to me as to the lady. There, 
distinctly outlined on, rather than in, the mirror, was 
the head and shoulders of a being whom for years I 
had been accustomed to regard as the presentation of 
my evil genius. It was a woman with a frightful 
aspect, full of malignity, rage, and ferocity. She wore 



102 GHOST LAND. 

a head-dress worthy of a Medusa. Her large, staring 
eyes glared hideously at the beholder; and according 
to the expression those malign features assumed, so had 
I been accustomed to expect the approach of the mis- 
fortunes of which this spectre was the invariable fore- 
runner. When sickness was at hand, the hag would 
appear to me mocking and mowing like a wailing idiot; 
on the approach of discord, slander, or enmity, she 
would assume a grimace impossible to describe, but 
still graphically significant to a seer. Death, this hid- 
eous ghoul portended by opening wide her cavernous 
jaws and presenting within them a miniature resem- 
blance of some victim whom she affected to devour. 
This ghastly image always appeared to me objective, 
life-like, and real. I have faced it in the street, in my 
chamber, in the midst of the gayest assemblages, in 
royal salons, and quiet solitudes. 

Its appearance was an unfailing prophecy in the direc- 
tions I have intimated, and I had become so accustomed 
to behold it that it created in me neither surprise nor 
alarm until I saw it appear as one of the legionaries of 
w Azrael, the angel of life and death," in my fair friend's 
mirror. I endeavored to calm her mind by explaining 
to her that it was but an image, representative of the 
action of mortal death, from which the angel Azrael sent 
shadows, some ghastly in their ugliness, others radiant 
with the promises of the better life to come. "Whilst I 
spoke the mocking " image, " as I had termed it, moved, 
smiled, or rather grinned, chattered at us, and shook her 
lean, skinny arms as if to assure us it was no image but 
a thing of life, one too which heard and understood my 
attempts to soothe my companion. "It is an elemen- 
tary," she said, "and whilst it signifies all you say, it is 
still an actual existence, not a mere subjective image." 



GHOST LAND. 103 

Once more I pause in my narrative to state that the 
seeress here alluded to has, since that time, been visited 
for a number of years — indeed, up to the present time 
— by the same apparition, in the same manner as I have 
described above, and with the same prophetic intimations. 
Banished almost instantly from the mirror by my will, I 
inquired what my friend would now wish to behold, as 
I doubted not the angel of the mirror would be ready to 
yield her a more agreeable and instructive vision. K Let 
me see whatever the wise and good guardian is pleased 
to display," she replied; when, after due invocation, 
soliciting Azrael to show us whatsoever would be 
instructive and prophetic, we both simultaneously beheld 
the following singular picture : Two forms arose in the 
mirror which strongly suggested the idea of the genii of 
night and day. They were apparently female forms, 
attired in flowing robes of black and white. Their long 
tresses were also the one of raven, the other of golden 
hue. Their faces were exquisitely beautiful, but sad, 
silent, and full of wonderfully pleading eloquence. The 
dark eyes of the one and the lustrous blue of the other 
were fixed upon us with a depth of sadness, pity, and 
sorrow which conveyed a whole history of prophetic 
meaning. 

Between these figures was displayed an open book, 
upon the pages of which both the seeress and myself 
read two words. The lady informed me she had seen 
these spirits before, had been told that they were plane- 
tary spirits, the guardians of a mirror belonging to a 
friend whom she occasionally visited, and that the book 
which they thus presented was one which for ages they 
had been endeavoring to inspire some earthly scribe to 
write. She added, " These spirits seemed, when first 
I saw them at my friend Mr. H.'s, to beseech me to 



104 GHOST LAND. 

write that book; but it now appears as if they had 
transferred their plea to you, and I cannot but think the 
vision is significant of the prophecy that you are des- 
tined to write it." "If so then," I replied, "the first 
image is not meaningless, for the spirit of malignity 
as surely prophesies slander and malice in connection 
with what is to follow, as the beautiful legionaries of 
the stars prophesy that either you or I, or perhaps both, 
will become their scribe." 

I give this example "chiefly to illustrate the character 
of the intelligence which comes through the mirror and 
crystal in seances devoted to their exhibition. "What- 
ever is thus presented is designed apparently by the 
guardian spirits of the mirror or crystal, to whom these 
objects are dedicated, to convey instruction, advice, 
warning, or prophecy. Some of the noblest communica- 
tions I have ever received have been given by plane- 
tary spirits impressed upon the surface of the mirror, 
and some of the most startling and significant events of 
my life have been prophesied of by images, scenes, and 
representations rising up in the magnetic depths of a 
consecrated crystal. I do not claim that either of these 
instruments are essential to the unfoldment or exercise 
of clairvoyance; but where the power already exists, 
mirrors, crystals, a glass of water, or any polished, 
smooth, or untarnished surface seems available as a 
tablet for the use of the invisible artist, and a means of 
representation for scenic effects by attendant spirits. 

Returning to the period when I first made the acquaint- 
ance of the English magians, I recall a special seance 
wherein I was myself the clairvoyant. Professor von 
Marx had as usual magnetized me by a single wave of 
his hand, and enjoined me to describe to those present 
various visionary scenes in which they were interested. 



GHOST LAND. 105 

In the course of the seance I suddenly perceived the 
loathsome image I have just alluded to, — " the hag," as 
I was accustomed to call her, — crouching down close 
beside my beloved master, extending a long, lean, skinny 
arm, as if to clutch him, and gazing upon him with those 
distended jaws which to my shuddering apprehension 
prophesied the approach of death. My master at that 
moment seemed to be lost in profound abstraction. 
With folded arms he sat looking vacantly into the dim 
distance, his thoughts evidently' centred on scenes far 
remote from his present surroundings. It was in this 
moment of abstraction, and in the absence of the intense 
and concentrated influence he was accustomed to throw 
around me, that I seemed to awake as with a sudden 
start from dreaming to reality,, and piercing the mist of 
self- woven mystery in which he chose to enshroud him- 
self and hide the realities of his being from me, I per- 
ceived a truth which he had not before permitted to dawn 
on my consciousness.' He was unhappy, and his appear- 
ance betokened to my newly-opened vision the signs of 
physical decay and the fever of deep unrest. The pang 
of fear and anguish which thrilled through my frame 
touched his. He recovered from his state of abstraction 
with a slight shiver, turned an anxious, inquisitive glance 
upon me, rose, laid his hand lovingly on my shoulder, 
and instantly caused the clouds of reserve once more to 
roll down between us. The spectre vanished. Profes- 
sor von Marx resumed his seat, carelessly waved his 
hand to recall me from the magnetic state, remarking, 
■ ' Enough, my Louis ; you are weary." To the external 
eye all was as calm and serene as ever, and our relations 
to each other had not in the least degree altered; inte- 
riorly, however, I had received a revelation which not 
even the will of this all-powerful controller could oblit- 



106 GHOST LAND. 

erate, and with this cherished independent secret stored 
away in my soul, arose the determination to effect a 
change in our circumstances. Under the pretence that 
the air of the metropolis affected me unfavorably, I in- 
duced my beloved friend to set out with me on a tour 
through North Britain, purposing amidst the breezy hills 
and in the pure atmosphere of Scotland and Wales, to 
obtain that rest and renovation for him which he fondly 
deemed I needed for myself. 

My purpose is not to invite my readers to a perusal 
of my personal adventures, but to a retrospect of such 
scenes alone as may tend to throw light or bring evi- 
dence to bear upon the mysteries of spiritual existence. 

"When I write of myself it will only be in illustration 
of that realm of mind whose varying emotions should 
become the field of more profound exploration and anal- 
ysis than has yet been bestowed upon that all-important 
subject. I pass by then, our wanderings through many 
memorable scenes, and only pause to record one illustra- 
tion of spiritual interposition, in connection with events 
which are still well remembered at the place where they 
occurred. Professor von Marx's reputation as a man of 
letters, and the report that he was accompanied by one 
of the seers of the renowned w Berlin Brotherhood," pro- 
cured us far more hospitable attention in our quiet ram- 
bles than we desired to attract. On one occasion we 
were so earnestly entreated to become the guests of a 
nobleman whose estate lay in the heart of the wild Tro- 
sachs, that we felt unable, without positive discourtesy, 
to resist his urgent invitation that we would remain with 
him for a few days. 

We arrived at our place of destination early in the 
forenoon, and after partaking of a lunch characterized 
by all that profuse hospitality for which the "kindly 



GHOST LAND. 107 

Scot " is so justly celebrated, our host proposed that we 
should accompany him and one or two of his friends on 
a ride through some of the most romantic points of the 
neighborhood. In this excursion we visited many inter- 
esting places, frequently leaving our horses in charge of 
the grooms, whilst we explored on foot mountain-passes 
whose savage wildness might never have been disturbed 
by the invading presence of man. 

It seemed almost impossible for me to wander amidst 
these lovely glens, vales, and woods', climb mountains of 
rarest grandeur, and gaze over outstretched panoramas 
of gorgeous loveliness, without yielding to the spiritual 
efflatus which Nature in her profuse displays of scenic 
beauty ever inspires. Every foot of ground, too, was his- 
torical. Every wooded height was crowned with a castle 
or old manorial building, memorable as the residence of 
kings or princes, heroes or statesmen. "We gazed upon 
gloomy fortresses which had once held captive the fairest 
and noblest of Scotland's peers and princes. Every scene 
was redolent of wild and thrilling memories. We passed 
through deep glens, or penetrated into the heart of moun- 
tain defiles, where the best blood of the land had drenched 
the ground, and lingered in many a fairy nook, imprinted 
with tragic legends of violence and wrong. Every tow- 
ering crag or peaceful glen, every deep defile or shady 
grove, was stamped with thrilling memories. To one who 
like me, lived. on the borders of the unseen world, and 
whose clairvoyant sight revealed unbidden, a thousand 
pictures of interior life veiled to the outer eye, this land 
of mighty deeds and romantic associations opened up a 
page of wondrous revelation. 

Oftentimes when solitude and silence brooded over 
the glowing landscape to the eyes of my companions, 
to me the air was thick with visions. I beheld flying 



108 GHOST LAND. 

armies, dying heroes, captive princes, persecuted mar- 
tyrs, and all the weird phantasmagoria of life in its 
stormiest and most unresting moods. And these vis- 
ions must not be classed as the result of a mere over- 
heated imagination or creative fancy. The spectral 
forms of the long ago are indelibly fixed in the w astral 
light," which is the spiritual atmosphere of the uni- 
verse; and what seer can pass amidst those scenes 
where these thronging phantoms most abound, with- 
out perceiving, through the rifts and rents of matter, 
the myriads of forms which hang on the gallery-walls 
in an imperishable world of spiritual entities? Noth- 
ing that ever has been is lost to the vision of the 
seer; nothing that now is, can be hidden from his 
piercing gaze; nothing that shall be is wholly veiled 
from his prophetic glances. Involuntarily, though per- 
haps shudderingly, he finds his spiritual eyes are open, 
and he is compelled to gaze upon the innermost of life's 
awful mystery whether he will or no. No hand, not 
even that of his own tired spirit, can draw the curtain 
between his vision and that of the solemn scenes 
inscribed by the actors in life's wild drama upon the 
indestructible page of the astral light. Nature in 
her external loveliness afforded me but half-revealed 
glimpses of her meaning in each scene I looked upon. 
It was the array of phantom images that came trooping 
up before my soul's eyes, filling each spot with the 
living, dying, dead; with fierce battle-scenes, romances, 
intrigues; with all the stirring events, in short, which 
make up the wild legend of Scottish history, that I 
beheld, loading my spirit with the fatal burden of 
involuntary seership, filling my heart with anguish for 
the woes of poor humanity, and isolating me alike from 
human sympathy and human companionship. 



GHOST LAND. 100 

Lost as I was in the absorption of this fatal gift of 
second sight, I conld rarely contribute much to the en- 
tertainment of my companions. Professor yon Marx 
was scarcely more sociable, for he was divided in his 
wish to gratify our host and his friends with his fluent 
strain of conversation, and his anxiety to watch the 
waves of thought which rolled in upon my soul, the 
full details of which he could master without the inter- 
change of a single word between us, when he willed to 
do so. Meantime there was a markedly restless manner 
in our host and his friends, which could not escape the 
keen perception of the professor. They seemed to 
fence round some subject, which they were equally 
desirous yet unwilling to introduce. At length they 
asked abruptly what Professor von Marx thought of 
the nature of obsession, — -whether he had ever had any 
experience in that direction ; and if, as he openly taught, 
the obsessing power did not proceed from the undevel- 
oped spirits of human beings, how he would account 
for the strictly human tendencies (evil though they 
might be) manifested in the conduct of the obsessed. 
Professor von Marx replied that he believed, though he 
could not prove the fact, that the obsessing power was 
to be traced to the elementaries. He. claimed that 
these beings exist on every grade of the ladder which 
reaches from the lowest depths of inorganic matter to 
the highest stages of organized being; that many of 
the kingdoms of elemental existence were near enough 
to man to share his thoughts and inspire him with their 
own ideas. Meantime, he argued, in many notable cases 
of obsession, familiar enough to those who have studied 
the subject, a large proportion of the control seemed to 
influence its unfortunate victims to the commission of 
acts strangely in accordance with animal natures. 



110 GHOST LAND. 

He cited a number of cases in which the obsessed ex- 
hibited the strongest tendencies to bark, whine, cry, and 
whistle, leap, crawl, climb, roll their bodies up into the 
distorted resemblances of animals ; in fact, to imitate by 
every possible method the habits of animals rather than 
human beings. It was in the midst of this discussion, 
and just as we had reached a romantic defile which 
wound its way partly through the mountains and occa- 
sionally opened up on the shores of an enchanting lake, 
that we all began to observe the unusual agitation and 
restlessness of our horses. They were rugged High- 
land steeds, strong, docile, yet sufficiently spirited to 
bear us safely over the most toilsome mountain roads. 
The pass we had now gained was intersected by numer- 
ous streams, which in many places swelled to torrents, 
and pouring over vast masses of piled-up rocks, formed 
cascades of exquisite beauty. Our horses had passed 
through many such scenes before in that very day's 
excursion; they had forded several streams, and in 
the midst of the foam and roar of the cascades had 
never before exhibited the least signs of terror. Now 
their obvious reluctance to proceed was marked and 
obstinate. The evening was fast deepening around us ; 
already we were beginning to view the scene through 
the haze of what the Scotch poetically term the "gloam- 
ing," and our host informed us of his intention to 
shorten our path by passing through a certain district 
which he had previously fixed upon as the scene of our 
next day's excursion. A nest of villages, through which 
we were to make our way, lay outstretched on the dis- 
tant plain, at the foot of the mountain we were crossing, 
and presented a most inviting picture of rural peace 
and tranquillity. It was just as these village houses 
came into view, and whilst we were passing through 



GHOST LAND. Ill 

the last portion of a very rugged defile, that my horse, 
which was somewhat in advance of the rest, became 
actually unmanageable, rearing, snorting, and plunging 
with all the signs of frantic terror. 

From early childhood I was accustomed to the man- 
agement of a horse, and had been taught to govern 
the wildest and most untrained animals of Arabia. 
In the present instance however, my past experiences 
were utterly unavailing. Even when I had dis- 
mounted, and strove by every ordinary method to 
soothe the frightened creature into tranquillity, I could 
scarcely prevent him from plunging into the depths of 
a foaming cataract to which he seemed drawn by some 
irresistible attraction. Looking curiously around to dis- 
cover the cause of this unaccountable action, I saw, or 
fancied I saw, amidst the vortex of foaming waters 
towards which the frantic creature was impelled, several 
dark bodies plunging and tossing, in the semblance of 
human beings. 

Deeming it impossible that any one, however hardy a 
swimmer, could live in the revel of those wild waters, I 
stooped down to examine them more closely, when I dis- 
tinctly saw a long lean arm and misshapen skinny hand 
stretched out towards my horse's bridle as if to drag 
him forward into the cataract. At the same moment 
the animal gave a tremendous backward plunge, and as 
he dragged me with him from the torrent, it seemed as 
if I was suddenly losing my senses, and passing into 
the condition of deep somnambulism. Never in my life 
did I experience so powerful or malignant an influence 
as that which was now sinking me into helpless uncon- 
sciousness. 

The more dim and shadowy the outer world grew to 
my sense of sight, the more real and horrible became 



112 GHOST LAND. 

the objects revealed to my interior senses. The air, the 
earth, the waters, appeared to be thick with grotesque 
and hideous semblances of half man, half beast. Creep- 
ing, crawling, flying, and leaping things, of all shapes 
and sizes, held goblin carnival around me. The outer 
world was receding, and I passed into a veritable realm 
of demons. I scarcely dare even now recall the full 
horrors of this vision, nor should I have attributed to it 
any objective reality had I not witnessed the terror of 
the poor horses, and connected the whole scene with 
subsequent incidents. I was aroused from this palsy of 
horror by the voice of Professor von Marx, whose tones, 
though modulated almost to a whisper, so as to reach my 
ear alone, sounded like thunder, as he murmured, "Louis, 
Louis! rouse yourself, or you will let the demons of 
hell get possession of you ! " My strength and compos- 
ure returned with the touch of my master's powerful 
hand. Even my poor horse owned the spell of his 
resistless influence ; for I found it standing, with droop- 
ing head, and sides flecked with foam, and at my side ; 
and though trembling violently, it was no longer restive 
or intractable. " You have forgotten your Eastern train- 
ing, methinks," said the professor half reproachfully, as 
I looked at my poor steed. "No training will avail here," 
I replied in the same tone. " Through this accursed 
spot I will not attempt to lead this suffering creature." 
There was no time for further discussion. In a single 
instant a thick, vaporous mist fell upon us, enveloping 
us in its damp, slimy folds as in a wet garment. It 
rolled, surged, and filled the atmosphere for a moment, 
just as I have seen the air grow instantaneously thick 
and almost impenetrable in the murky folds of a London 
fog; but before we could comment to each other on this 
remarkable phenomenon, the mists rose, curled, and sep- 



GHOST LAND 113 

arated into ten thousand fragments, and with slight, sharp, 
detonating sounds, exploded into the well-known appear- 
ances called will-o'-the-wisps, or as the country folk 
of England call them, " Jack-o'-Lanterns." Truth to 
tell, the appearance of these phosphorescent lights in a 
place where no marshy ground existed, and where, as our 
whole party affirmed, they had never been seen before, 
in no way tended to reassure us. As for me, I saw 
around these glimmering lights, which danced, flitted, 
wheeled, or floated by hundreds on every side of us, the 
opaque bodies and grotesque outlines of the elementaries, 
not as before in distinct resemblances of animals and men, 
but in a vague, undefined burr around each shimmering 
flame, which was situated, as my shuddering fancy sug- 
gested, just where the nervous centres of their strange 
life might be supposed to inhere. Sometimes fierce, 
malignant eyes glared at me through the fast-deep- 
ening gloom, when the sudden start and unmistakable 
terror of my poor horse, which I continued to lead, 
proved either that he shared with me the goblin sight, 
or my hand communicated a sense of repulsion to the 
sensitive animal. Soon after leaving the village, the 
phantom lights disappeared, one by one, and we reached 
our home without further interruption. 

That night, after retiring to rest, the same vague 
sense of terror that had beset me in the glen at the 
moment of my involuntary enhancement again took 
possession of me, and again seemed to threaten a mag- 
netic control as hateful to my feelings as it was strange 
and unusual. I felt that an unknown presence filled 
my apartment, and a nameless horror threw its chilling 
influence over every nerve. I had frequently visited 
the realms of the elementaries at the command of the 
Berlin Brotherhood or my dear master. In the service 



114 GHOST LAND. 

of these adepts I had penetrated, clairvoyantly, the 
interior of the earth's crust, its rocks, caverns, mines, 
oceans, rivers, forests, and atmospheres. My all-poten- 
tial master had taught me how to summon and control 
elementary existences, as well as to penetrate the realms 
they inhabited. In all departments of Nature, my wan- 
dering spirit had explored, and communed with the 
countless spheres of graduated being that peopled the 
ulterior of Nature's wonderful and teeming labora- 
tories. Whilst I was sustained by the potency of 
Professor von Marx's magnetism, and maintained my 
relations of a superior being towards these elementaries, 
they could neither control nor distress me ; but now, by 
the effect of some strong magnetic influence, of which 
I had not been forewarned, the mysterious dwellers of 
the innermost had overpowered and almost mastered 
me. Arrayed against me, in unconquerable force, 
these malignant beings had now subdued me with a 
facility as new as strange in my experience. Even the 
fear with which they oppressed me I felt to be danger- 
ous; and conscious that a mustering of these evil genii 
was even now pervading the suffocating air of my 
apartment, I arose hastily, dressed myself, and deter- 
mined to seek Professor von Marx's apartment. 

Just as I had gamed the door which led into the cor- 
ridor I was intercepted by a gigantic form, which seemed 
to loom up in the semi-darkness of my chamber as if it 
had arisen from the ground, and at the same moment a 
strong arm drove me back, and laid me, prostrate and 
breathless, on a couch near by. Being more astonished 
than frightened by this sudden apparition, I turned my 
gaze steadily upon it, and was able to master all the 
minutiaB of its appearance. 

The figure, as I have said, was gigantic in height, 



GHOST LAND. 115 

and of vast proportions ; but as it seemed to be entirely 
shrouded in some envelope of a gray and misty nature, 
I was unable to determine whether it wore the human 
form or not. At first it loomed up before me like an 
irregularly-shaped column, but as I gazed, I could per- 
ceive the substance or material which enveloped it 
change, flutter, collapse, and expand, after the fashion 
of smoke or mist. It seemed, too, as if an atmosphere 
less dense than itself surrounded it, and occasionally 
emitted a luminous radiance through the apartment. 

]STo word was spoken; no sound broke the deathly 
stillness as I reclined on the couch, where the force of 
that shrouded thing had cast me. 

At first a sense of terrible helplessness possessed me, 
and I felt oppressed even unto death by the power 
of a crushing nightmare; but after the pause of a few 
breathless moments, the unknown stirred, and extended 
a part of itself — a robe or some attachment belonging to 
its columnar proportions ■ — towards me in the attitude of 
protection. Following upon this motion others ensued, 
and then it seemed as if wreaths of mist were rolling 
through the apartment, and folding up like cloudy drap- 
ery around the quivering mass that stood* erect at my 
side. All this I saw, and as it seemed with my natural 
eyes, for on this occasion I retained all the normal 
faculties of my waking state, and can never recall the 
slighest sensation either of dreaming, trance, or mag- 
netic efflatus. Presently the mists which had filled the 
chamber cleared away, and with their dispersion the 
scene also changed. I beheld no more the walls, ceil- 
ing, and furniture of my sleeping-room^ but I found 
myself gazing upon the interior of an old Gothic church. 

I looked around, and could distinctly trace, aye, even 
read, the brass tablets on the walls, the inscriptions on 



116 GHOST LAND. 

many an ancient monument, and note various forms of 
marble statuary, some broken and defaced by time, others 
in a fine state of preservation. I saw no organ or instru- 
ment of music within the fane, but there were finely- 
carved stalls and a magnificent pulpit, the steps of which 
I perceived had been worn by the traces of many feet in 
by-gone ages. A splendid railing parted off the altar 
or communion-table from the body of the church, and 
behind it stood three men in black dresses, such as I 
learned afterwards were worn by ministers of the 
Scotch Kirk. Before the screen or railing, kneeling in 
long rows on the steps and ground, was a crowd of 
women and children clad in the ordinary dress of the 
poorer classes of the land; behind these again, and fill- 
ing up the entire body of the church, was a crowd of 
earnest, sorrowful-looking men, who seemed to be regard- 
ing the kneeling figures with the deep sympathy of inter- 
ested kindred. It appeared to me as if this vast concourse 
was gathered together to witness some ecclesiastical cer- 
emony in which the kneeling women and children played 
the part of penitents. One of the ministers appeared 
to be addressing them in a style of stern exhorta- 
tion, though -I could not hear the words he spoke. At 
length I felt the approach of a new presence. A sound 
came soughing through the air like the rush of heavy 
wings. I could feel the wind stir the hair on my tem- 
ples, when the same demon crew rushed by that I had 
seen in the glen a few hours before. There they were 
in swarms and myriads, dreadful-looking shapes, with 
gleaming eyes and faces distorted with the wild joy 
of their frantic revel. In an instant the whole host of 
demons swooped down on the kneeling crowd, and van- 
ished, immersed as it seemed, in the bodies of their vic- 
tims. I saw them no more, but in their places the women 



GHOST LAND. 117 

and children themselves assumed the attitudes of the 
fiends that possessed them. They sprang up with 
whoops, yells, and shrieks of perfect frenzy. Some 
rolled on the ground, foaming at the mouth, others beat 
their breasts and tore their hair, uttering piteous cries 
and choking sobs ; some stood erect, with clasped hands 
and upturned eyes, in silent prayer; and others danced 
around them, uttering mocking execrations that made 
the blood of every listener curdle. 

Little children began to scale the walls and columns, 
run along the giddy heights of window-sills, and sus- 
pend themselves, coiled up like squirrels or monkeys, 
on cornice, roof, or pinnacle. 

The whole scene was one of fiendish import, horrible 
to hear, witness, or think of; yet it was not such a 
rare spectacle to me as many an unaccustomed reader 
may suppose. I had often witnessed cases of obses- 
sion before, in some instances falling upon whole com- 
munities, in others attacking only solitary individuals. 

The scene, shocking and loathsome as it was, I knew 
and felt to be a real picture ; and so feeling, I looked with 
ever-deepening interest to discover from whence the 
deliverance would come. Yet come indeed it did, and 
thus it was: Whilst the ministers shouted forth their 
prayers and exorcisms, mingling up passages of Scrip- 
ture and fierce cries for civic help in a strange jumble 
to which no one listened; whilst the excited friends and 
kindred of the possessed rushed from one to the other 
in the vain endeavor to subdue them into modest beha- 
vior by tears and supplications, in the midst of this 
pandemonium, another phase of the phantom-scene 
transpired. I saw two fair and gracious beings float 
into the midst of the demon revel, clad in robes of glis- 
tening white, and leading by the hand a young man, in 



118 GHOST LAND. 

whom I at once recognized the exact presentment of 
myself. The dress of this wraith, although resem- 
bling the one I then wore, was still remarkable from 
the fact that it seemed to be composed of some glitter- 
ing substance, from which streams of light radiated 
in every direction, enveloping the phantom in an aura 
of wonderful brightness. As these figures appeared 
upon the scene, the disturbance instantly ceased. The 
cries died away; the children dropped down from their 
fantastic perches, and crept to their mothers' arms; 
every one subsided into the attitude of repose, and as 
if an enchanted wand had been waved over the wild 
revel, a deep, holy calm seemed to have been diffused 
on all around. 

Whilst I was gazing in delight upon this happy 
change, I noticed that a strange blue mist began to 
rise from the forms of the obsessed. At first it ap- 
peared to be a mere thread-like vapor, but gradually 
it extended in volume until it filled the church, and in 
the midst of its rolling waves I saw the forms of the 
elementaries shooting up in air with the same wild 
shrieks, hisses, and grimaces with which they had 
borne down on their victims. Upwards and outwards 
they soared, an obscene host, before whose approach 
the walls, ceiling, and windows seemed to melt away, 
or become soluble, permitting the dark shapes to 
pass through as if they had been air; and they sped, 
screaming and gibbering, into the heavy-laden atmo- 
sphere, where they were at last lost in masses of 
rolling clouds. 

Directly the elementaries disappeared from the build- 
ing, I beheld the noble and erect form of Professor von 
Marx entering it. He wore his college robe and cap, 
and carried in his hand a knotted staff wreathed round 



GHOST LAND. 119 

with a serpent, similar Jo one I had seen him use in cer- 
tain invocatory processes. This staff he laid lightly on 
the heads of the lately obsessed ones, when instantly they 
arose from their semi-entranced positions like beings re- 
stored from the dead. "With a slight start, as if awak- 
ening from slumber, the victims proceeded to arrange 
themselves in ranks before the altar, taking their places 
beside their husbands, fathers, and children with the 
calm and modest deportment of pure-minded matrons in 
attendance upon a religious ceremony. The ministers 
opened their books, and began to read. A dimness 
now crept over the scene, no longer emanating from the 
phantom worshippers, but stealing in insidious wreaths 
from the gigantic figure at my side. The couch on 
which I reclined rocked and reeled; enclosing walls 
seemed gradually to grow up around me; the church, 
with its tablets, sculptured ornaments, and silent congre- 
gation, melted out of view. My last memory was of a 
gloriously radiant face bending over me, loving eyes 
gazing tenderly into mine, and a sweet, distant, chiming 
voice murmuring as if from afar off, w He giveth His 
beloved sleep." 

It was nearly noon before I felt able to join my host 
and his friends on the following day. 

My dear master, with his usual kind solicitude, paid 
me an early visit, and listened to a detailed account of 
my previous night's vision. On this, as on every other 
occasion when I related to him my extra-mundane expe- 
riences, he never wounded me by doubt or denial of my 
statements. Many points of my narrative drew from 
him instructive and philosophical comments, and when 
I had concluded, he informed me that we were expected 
to accompany our host to the villages he had designed 
to pass through on the previous night, and he further 



120 GHOST LAND. 

intimated that he somewhat anticipated I should find a 
commentary upon my previous night's vision in the pro- 
posed excursion. 

The place we were to visit had a barbarous Highland 
name, which I am now unable to recall, but the main 
incidents I have to relate are too well known to the 
inhabitants of that district to need more particular indi- 
cation. Once more we passed through the weird glen 
we had traversed the night before, and once more I 
experienced the approach of involuntary somnambulism ; 
but being now on my guard, I was able to conquer the 
tendency, and we arrived without interruption at our 
destination. 

This was a beautiful village, nestling at the foot of a 
range of mountains, covered as usual with sweet purple 
heather, and crowned with the ruins of a fine old castle. 
On our arrival, our host intimated his intention of car- 
rying us to the house of the minister of the place, by 
whom he said our visit had been expected at a much 
earlier hour. My attention, however, was irresistibly 
attracted to a fine old Gothic church, which stood on 
an eminence surrounded by a grove of trees, and about 
the open doors of which were gathered an immense 
concourse of people. "Without waiting for guidance or 
consultation, I felt impelled to dismount, throw the 
horse's reins to a groom, spring up the eminence, and 
push my way amongst the throng into the church. 
Every one made way for me as I advanced. Whether 
they were impressed by my impulsive action, my foreign 
appearance, or some other inexplicable cause I know not, 
but the jostling crowds drew back as I approached, 
and parted a way for me, through which I sped on until 
I reached the scene of action. This I doubt* not my 
readers will already be prepared to learn was the exact 



GHOST LAND. 121 

counterpart of my last night's vision. There were the 
same brass tablets and marble monuments on the walls 
and floor; the same carved stalls and pulpit; the high 
Gothic windows of stained glass, casting their many-col- 
ored reflections of saints and apostles on the checkered 
marble aisle below. There, too, was the same gilded 
screen parting off the communion-table from the body 
of the church. Behind this dividing line stood the three 
ministerial men, in black, that I had seen in my vision. 
They each held open Bibles in their hands, and were 
occupied, like their phantom presentments, in hurling 
exorcisms, prayers, passages of Scripture, and wrathful 
denunciations against a frenzied mob of women and 
children, who, with sobs, shrieks, wails, fierce laughter, 
wild oaths, and frantic gesticulations, were enacting in 
its hideous details, the exact counterpart of the scene 
I had beheld in vision twelve hours before. 

burning my eyes upwards I beheld, as I expected, 
little children running along the dizzy heights of the 
windows and cornices, mewing like cats, barking like 
dogs, or coiling themselves up like serpents in nooks 
which would hardly have afforded foothold for a squirrel. 
One ecstatic was actually suspended in the air several 
feet above the ground, and her distracted husband, cling- 
ing to her feet, was vainly endeavoring by main force to 
drag her clown to earth. Sobs and supplications, min- 
gled groans and prayers, wild laughter and bitter wail- 
ings, resounded on every side of me. Had I been 
myself and in full possession of my normal faculties, I 
should have stopped my ears and fled- from this inferno 
as from a pest-house; but the spirit was on me, and 
though in full possession of my sense of observation, 
every other faculty was under the dominion of a bright 
and beautiful band of planetary angels, who accompa- 



122 GHOST LAND. 

nied and impelled me on, and who from my boyhood 
had guided, counselled, and influenced me, under the 
spell of the deep magnetic trance. Awake now, and 
fully aware of their blessed presence and ministry, I 
passed amidst the demoniac rout as if I had myself 
become a spirit. I can not recollect that I touched the 
earth or realized the slightest sense of weight or hin- 
drance to locomotion. 

I moved silently through the maddened groups, and 
they fell at my feet, clasping and kissing my hands, 
addressing me as " the angel of deliverance," and hailing 
me as the w sent of God." 

I do not recollect that I spoke in words, but I 
thought pity for these sufferers, and sent up thanks to 
an unknown God that they were to be free from their 
tormentors. I know that the same flight of demons 
that I had witnessed in vision rose through the groined 
arches and Gothic roof of the church; and when my 
part was done, and the stilled multitude, like rebuked 
children, subsided into their places, hushed, quiet, and 
prayerful, I too stood aside, moved by the angel pres- 
ence that attended me, and just as I expected, Pro- 
fessor von Marx and his friends came forward and took 
my place. At once assuming the post of authority 
that belonged to him, my noble master moved amongst 
the quiet and humble throng, laid his powerful hands 
upon them, and murmured a few words of encourage- 
ment in their ears. The effect of his action was no 
less magical than that which had attended mine. The 
women started up and began to arrange their dishev- 
elled hair and disordered dresses with modest haste. 
Many of them blushed, and dropped the peasant's cour- 
tesy of the country, thanking "the good doctor" for 
their recovery. One little child, whose shrieks had 



GHOST LAND. 123 

been most frantic and whose actions resembled only 
those of a tiger, humbly murmured, "Forgive me, 
mother dear! I have had a sad, drear dream, and I 
fear I've been very naughty." 

Amongst this primitive and superstitious people it 
is almost unnecessary to say that the obsession which 
had thus fallen upon them had been attributed wholly 
to the power of witchcraft. 

The cure now so suddenly wrought in their midst, 
however beneficial its results, could not fail to suggest 
the same weird influence. Of this the laird we were 
visiting was perfectly aware. He hastened therefore, 
to whisper in the ears of some of the church officials, 
who had been amazed witnesses of the scene, that we 
were celebrated German doctors; that our cures were 
effected by means of concealed but very potent drugs ; 
and that, as warm Lutherans, they might rely upon our 
methods being strictly orthodox and in accordance 
with the doctrines of ecclesiastical practice. 

Fearful lest our inveterate heterodoxy might in some 
unguarded moment display itself in contradiction to 
these whispered explanations, our good host hurried 
us away, and it was on our return to his hospitable 
mansion that we learned the material details of the cir- 
cumstances in which we had been unpremeditated actors. 

About four months ago, it appeared, a young girl in 
the parish, who had always been more or less the sub- 
ject of strange dreams, visions, and tendencies to epi- 
lepsy, became suddenly frightened by what she insisted 
upon declaring to be the apparition of w six fairy peo- 
ple," who came into her chamber through the window, 
and after performing sundry pranks in her presence, 
laid their hands one after another upon her mouth, and 
declared that she should not again taste food until she 



124 GHOST LAND. 

came forth at midnight, to dance with the fairy people. 
After this strange narrative, the girl began to pine 
away, refused food, and for several weeks lived en- 
tirely without any sustenance; fits of deep somnolency 
attacked her ; and to use her parents' simple phraseology, 
" She began to die while yet she lived." All at once she 
revived from this lethargic state, and at the recommen- 
dation of a neighbor, she and three girls of her acquaint- 
ance stole forth one night at the full of the moon to 
keep tryst with the mysterious " good people," who a 
month before had invited her to one of their midnight 
gatherings. Without deeming it worth while to repeat 
the wild tale of glamour the romantic adventuresses 
brought back from their midnight escapade, it is enough 
to relate that from that time forth they began to mani- 
fest all the signs of obsession, the excess of which has 
been described in the foregoing pages. Unfortunately, 
their aberrations were not limited to themselves. At 
first their little brothers and sisters, next their mothers, 
and finally, scores of young people and females of their 
acquaintance, fell under the same dreadful ban. Even 
the domestic animals associated with them seemed to 
share their fatal propensities; they ran wild, changed 
their natures, and in some instances died beneath the 
effect of the spell. Priests and mediciners exerted their 
powers in vain. The fell disease only increased in pro- 
portion to the efforts made to quell it; and finally our 
host, fearing that the superstitions of the country people, 
once aroused, would induce them to lay violent hands 
upon some helpless persons suspected of being instru- 
mental in promoting the witch mania, and hearing of 
our projected tour to the north, determined to try if 
genuine spirit power would not do for his afflicted 
neighbors what material science and superstitious piety 



GHOST LAND. 125 

had failed to effect. He confessed, in fact, that he had 
pressed his hospitality upon us as much in the hope that 
our occult knowledge might devise means of relieving 
the district as in admiration of Professor von Marx's 
high reputation and standing in a certain society to 
which he belonged. 

The result was achieved with even more success than 
had been anticipated. Our host had purposely drawn 
us towards the scene of the visitation on the first day 
of our arrival, but without informing us of the real mo- 
tives which prompted him. The effect of our near prox- 
imity to the possessed village upon our unfortunate 
horses baffled him at first, and made him fearful of try- 
ing further experiments, especially when, during the 
night which followed our visit to the glen, he was in- 
formed by his grooms that the horse I had ridden dur- 
ing the day had actually died of fright. w I prayed," 
said the good old man, "to the Father of spirits to send 
his angel to guide us through this wilderness of terror. 
Long and earnestly did I pray, and when the gray of 
the morning came, I fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, 
and dreamed I saw myself and you, my friends, leading 
the Israelites of old through an awful wilderness, but I 
saw moreover, that we were guided by a pillar of cloud, 
which moved before us, and by this I knew that my 
prayers were answered, and that the angel of deliver- 
ance was at hand." Some months later we heard from 
our venerable friend that no signs of the demon fever 
had ever reappeared in his district, and that none of 
his young clanswomen had again seen fairies or stolen 
forth by moonlight to attend their midnight revels. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF OBSESSION. 

Ik this day of universal enlightenment there can be 
few if any readers of these pages who have not heard, 
read of, or witnessed some cases of obsession similar to 
that described in the last chapter. The well-informed 
student of psychologic phenomena must be aware that 
I have understated rather than exaggerated the worst 
features of such scenes, whilst I refer those who are unfa- 
miliar with the subject to the graphic accounts of obses- 
sion in different countries, and occurring at different 
epochs of time, given by "William Howitt, Dr. Ennemo- 
ser, Schuberth, Horst, Upham, and other writers on spirit- 
ualistic subjects. By these eminent authorities descrip- 
tions have been given of the convulsionnaires of St. 
Medard, the nuns of Loudon, the preaching epidemic 
at Sweden, etc., before the thrilling horrors of which 
my brief sketch of obsession in the Scotch Highlands 
becomes tame and lifeless. Perhaps one of the most 
forcible and striking instances of this demoniac fever on 
record occurred as recently as 1864, when a wholesale 
obsession seized upon the quiet and peaceful inhabitants 
of Morzine, Switzerland, which lasted for a period of 
over four years, and included in its ravages more than a 
thousand of the best disposed, most pure, pious, and 
inoffensive dwellers of that district. William Howitt 
has given a fine magazine sketch of this terrible visita- 



GHOST LAND. 127 

tion, which he justly entitles w The Devils of Morzme." 
Whether this caption be regarded as referring to the 
unhappy victims or the power- that controlled them, it is 
certainly a most appropriate definition of the condition 
in which hundreds of hapless persons appeared during 
the reign of the demoniac fever which infested Morzine 
for several years. 

I know it is the favorite theory of the modern spir- 
itists, especially in America, to attribute all extra-mun- 
dane visitations, good, bad, or indifferent, to the spirits 
of deceased persons. I have conversed with many 
very intelligent clairvoyants who have described appa- 
ritions which manifested themselves in the form of 
dogs, cats, bears, tigers, and other animals, and all 
these appearances they assured me, were but the repre- 
sentation of human beings under low conditions of 
development. The same persons have informed me, 
they often saw different individuals surrounded by 
toads, lizards, serpents, and vermin, but that such 
objects had no real objective existence, but were pro- 
jections from the evil tendencies of the parties, whose 
thoughts engendered them. They have cited Sweden- 
borg's doctrine of correspondences in support of their 
opinions, urging that the great seer assures us it is the 
invariable tendency of evil thoughts to clothe them- 
, selves in the shape of the animals to which they corre- 
spond. It is wonderful to note with what ingenuity 
and ceaseless stretch of the imagination such reasoners 
argue for the crystallization of thought into forms. In 
their philosophy the varying appearances of the human 
spirit are sufficient to account for all the ground once 
occupied by supernaturalism. The Good People or 
Fairies of England and the Pixies of Scotland are 
simply the spirits of small children clothed in green. 



128 GHOST LAND. 

Pigmies, Gnomes, Kobolds, etc., are the souls of the 
early men, who of course, were very small or very 
large, in accordance with the size of the phantoms 
they are to account for. In the same manner, Sylphs, 
Undines, Salamanders, and all the weird apparitions of 
every country, clime, and time are disposed of on elastic 
human hypotheses. In the opinion of these philoso- 
phers there never was, will, or can be any other than 
human spirits, and the whole boundless universe must 
look to this little planet earth to furnish forth the 
material for its population. There can be but little 
doubt that this is a relic of that materialistic the- 
ology which made a man of its God, and taught that 
the sun, moon, and stars were but heavenly gas-lights, 
fixed in a crystal firmament for the especial purpose 
of illuminating the path of the sole end and aim of 
creation, man. Those who plead for the existence of 
human spirits only, are wonderfully ingenious in show- 
ing how they can enlarge themselves into giants, con- 
tract into dwarfs, expand into winged, horned, crooked, 
rounded, or elongated animal substances; and all this 
mobility of representation is designed, they assure us, 
to signify certain passions or states of spiritual growth 
and development. 

In the cases of obsession at Morzine, Sweden, Scot- 
land, France, etc., also in the reports of trials for witch- 
craft, especially in IsTew England and Scotland, it is 
notorious that the reputed witches and wizards were 
accused of mimicking the actions of animals. In all 
cases of obsession, too, this is one of the most marked 
features of the frenzy. Little children are seized with 
the passion for climbing, mewing, barking, and coiling 
themselves up into all sorts of animal shapes. The 
records of witchcraft and obsession both present these 



OHO ST LAND. 129 

repulsive features as an invariable rule, and those who 
claim that nothing but the action of human spirit influ- 
ence is manifested in these, the lowest and most revolt- 
ing phases of spiritism, fail, to my apprehension, to 
account for this invariable tendency. It is contended 
that the demons of the Jewish Scriptures, whose ob- 
session of human beings is so often referred to, could be 
acccounted for on the ground of epilepsy and other con- 
ditions of physical disease to which Eastern nations are 
peculiarly liable. 

Without being able to combat the opinions of so 
many respectable witnesses and sound thinkers as 
abound in the ranks of American spiritism (the chief 
supporters I find, of the human spiritual theory), I 
would yet submit that there is a vast array both of 
direct and circumstantial evidence favoring a belief in 
the interposition of other than human spirits, especially 
in the cases of obsession, witchcraft, and all other forms 
of spiritual manifestation, where demoniac wickedness, 
animal tendencies, and malignity towards the race are 
demonstrated. 

I neither, venture to offer my own testimony as a 
clairvoyant nor that of the thousands of seers and 
seeresses who in all ages of the world have professed to 
see and commune with the elementaries, as irrefragable 
proof of their existence. Swedenborg and the American 
spiritists generally have undoubtedly a certain amount of 
truth on their side when they plead for the representa- 
tion of man's basest passions in the form of animals ; in 
fact it is rather in the tone of speculation than certainty 
that we should question whether this theory covers the 
whole ground of apparitional manifestations. 

In another place I shall present more extended views 
concerning the existence and gradations of elemental 



130 GHOST LAND. 

life, for the present, it must suffice to say, the visions 
narrated in the previous chapter have been faithfully 
described, and their results conform so closely to the 
experiences of a vast number of seers, who have like 
myself, witnessed the underlying causes for obsession, 
the source of which is in the invisible world, that I have 
no shadow of doubt in my own mind concerning the 
exact nature of the influence at work in the case I have 
related. The theory of ancient magians and mediaeval 
mystics will be found in harmony with those of the 
Brotherhood from whom I first derived my opinions 
concerning the existence of the elementaries ; and as I 
have before dwelt upon this subject, I shall simply add 
in this place that whilst I now believe the undeveloped 
spirits of humanity are actively engaged in stimulating 
every scene of human folly and error which re-enacts 
their own misspent lives, I am still assured such occa- 
sions offer opportunities for the intervention of the lower 
orders of elementaries. I conceive, moreover, that those 
beings exert a more constant and important influence 
upon humanity than we have dreamed of in our narrow 
philosophy, and that the demonstrations of this moment- 
ous truth will form the next phase of spiritual revelation 
to this generation. 

Let me conclude these remarks by suggesting in brief 
the theories presented to us by certain of our spirit 
teachers, concerning the physical philosophy of obsession. 
The conditions that furnish opportunities for this affection 
are sometimes peculiar to individuals ; at others, to com- 
munities. In the former case, it is generally the result 
of a highly mediumistic temperament, in which some 
disturbance of the nervous system has arisen, rendering 
the subject unusually negative and open to the control 
of strong, brutal spirits, who desire to re-incarnate them- 



GHOST LAND. 131 

selves again in human bodies, or elementaries, who are 
attracted by sympathetic states of the physical system 
they wish to obsess. In nearly every instance, the sub- 
jects best adapted to this terrible affliction are delicate 
and sensitive persons, young children, pure and simple- 
minded women, those in fact, whose physical and ner- 
vous temperaments are negative and whose minds are 
receptive to the influence of others. 

When obsession affects an entire community as in the 
case described in the last chapter, it may generally be 
attributed to epidemic states of the atmosphere. Solar, 
planetary, and astral changes are forever transpiring in 
the grandly permanent yet grandly varied march of the 
universe. That these changes must affect the earth, 
itself the subject of every beam of light that can reach 
its surface, the simplest review of the sublime scheme 
of the sidereal heavens will show. Yet more potential 
by far than the merely mathematical astronomer can 
perceive, are the influences which solar, planetary, 
and astral conjunctions exercise upon the receptive 
earth. We must also glance at the opinion which the 
study of astrology combined with astronomy inclines us 
to arrive at, which is, that all diseases, mental, moral, or 
physical, that bear upon man in the form of epidemics 
are produced in the first instance by malignant conjunc- 
tions of the bodies in space in relation to the earth. 
Tides of atmosphere, especially equatorial currents, are 
the carriers and distributors of these malignant influ- 
ences. Hence arises the war spirit which so often 
marches from land to land in regular tidal waves. In 
the same line of atmospheric influences are borne the 
subtile elements of criminal propensities, popular opin- 
ions, fashions, tastes, customs, an epidemic of genius, 
mechanical skill, physical susceptibility to certain dis- 



132 GHOST LAND. 

eases and all manner of plagues. One susceptible or- 
ganism is first attacked ; then by the force of sympathy 
in mental, and contagion in physical states, a whole com- 
munity or district succumbs, until the prevailing influ- 
ence is fully spent, when a reaction sets in. I have cited 
the experience of Professor von Marx and myself in the 
Scotch obsession chiefly to show how available the all- 
potential force of spiritual and animal magnetism may 
become in such affections, and how much more rapidly 
endemic disorders, especially of a nervous or spiritualis- 
tic character, might yield to such influences than to the 
ordinary methods of cure. In my own case I attribute 
the marvellous effect produced upon the demoniacs 
by my presence, to the operation of the beautiful plan- 
etary spirits who poured their divine influence upon a 
human multitude through the instrumentality of a human 
medium. Professor von Marx's influence was more direct 
and physically potential, for he infused his own powerful 
and healthful magnetism upon the afflicted ones by direct 
contact. I doubt if every case of obsession could not be 
thus instantly and effectually cured, could the right ele- 
ments of spiritual and human magnetism both be brought 
to bear upon the subject. 

I well remember being in London, some years ago, 
when a most malignant and fatal form of Asiatic cholera 
was raging through the city. The season was that 
of summer, the temperature immensely high, and the 
deserted city seemed wholly abandoned to the ravages 
of the fell plague. Going forth into the silent and 
woeful streets, one bright morning, when not a single 
particle of vapor flecked the deep azure of the sky, and 
not a cloud was visible, I beheld with open spiritual 
eyes an enormous column of black vapor hanging in 
seething, murky folds, horizontally extended and stretch- 



GHOST LAND. 133 

ing for miles across the infected districts of the city. 
Curious to ascertain the nature of this columnar mass 
I gave myself entirely up to the magnetic afflatus, and 
presently perceived that the column was composed of 
millions and tens of millions of living creatures gener- 
ated in the atmosphere by a certain potent but malig- 
nant conjunction of the earth and the stars. I realized 
that this conjunction had converted the unparticled 
matter of the atmosphere into particled and finally 
organic conditions, and though the organisms thus pro- 
duced were far too attenuated to come within the range 
of any instruments yet known to science, they were and 
are perpetually in course of formation, and when oper- 
ating, under malignant planetary and astral influences, 
they impressed, as in the instance under consideration, 
a diseased and pernicious influence on the atmosphere 
through which they were swept, and wherever they 
were borne they left their tracery behind in the form 
of pestilence. 

I can scarcely hope to be believed by those who have 
not had the same opportunities of observation and anal- 
ysis as myself, but for the truth's sake I will here leave 
a record .behind, which may be accepted and understood 
in future generations even if rejected now. 

It was during the prevalence of the great cholera 
plague to which I refer that I was invited by a few 
gentlemen, who were in sympathy with my mystical 
studies, to join them in a select party, the aim of which 
was to make astronomical experiments under peculiarly 
favorable circumstances. I do not feel at liberty to 
mention the names of those who graced our little gath- 
ering; it is enough to state that they were all distin- 
guished for their scientific attainments. At a certain 
period of the night we adjourned to an observatory, 



134 GHOST LAND. 

where we were to enjoy the rare privilege of making 
observations through an immense telescope, constructed 
under the direction of Lord Rosse. When my turn 
arrived for viewing the heavens through this wonderful 
piece of mechanism, I confess I beheld a sight which 
for a long time held me breathless. At first I saw only 
the glorious face of the spangled firmament, with that 
sense of mingled awe and reverence which never for- 
sakes the mind of the most accustomed observer when 
he exchanges the view of the black vault of midnight, 
with its thinly-scattered field of distant lamps checker- 
ing the heavens, for the gorgeous mass of divine pyro- 
technics which bursts upon the sight through the daz- 
zling revealments of the magic telescope. Breathless, 
transfigured, whirled away from a cold, dim, cloudy 
world to a land — not of fairies or angels, but of gods 
and demi-gods — to skies burning and blazing with mil- 
lions of suns, double suns, star roads, and empyrean 
walls, in which the bricks and mortar are sparkling 
suns and glowing systems, miracle of miracles! I 
hold my breath and tremble as I think, for the sight 
never grows old nor familiar to me, and every time I 
have thus gazed, it has only been to find the awe and 
wonder deepen. 

Absorbed as I was in contemplating the immensity 
and brilliancy of this ever new and ever gorgeous spec- 
tacle, in about forty seconds from the time when I first 
began to look through Lord Rosse's telescope, I found 
a singular blur coming between the shining frame of 
the heavens and the object glass. I was about to draw 
back, deeming some accidental speck had fallen upon 
the plane of vision, when I was attracted by observing 
that what I had deemed to be a blur actually assumed 
the shajje of a human profile, and was, even as I gazed, 



GHOST LAND. 135 

in the act of moving along in space between the glass 
and the heavens. Fascinated and wonder-struck, I still 
retained the calm and fixed purpose of continuing my 
observations, and in this way I saw, yes! I distinctly 
saw, a gigantic and beautifully proportioned human face 
sail by the object-glass, intercepting the view of the 
stars, and maintaining a position in mid-air which I 
should judge to have been some five miles above the 
earth's surface. 

Allowing for the immense magnifying powers of the 
instrument, I could not conceive of any being short of 
a giant whose form would have covered whole acres 
of space, to whom this enormous head could have 
appertained. When I first beheld this tremendous 
apparition, it seemed to be sailing perpendicularly in 
the air, intercepting the field of vision just between my- 
self and the planet to which the glass was pointed. I 
have subsequently seen it four times, and on each occa- 
sion, though the face was the same, the inclination of 
the form must have varied, sometimes floating horizon- 
tally, at another time looking down as if from a height, 
and only permitting a partial view of the features, 
greatly foreshortened, to appear. Still again I have seen 
it as at first, and finally, it sailed by in such a fashion as 
to permit the sight of an immense cloudy bulk which 
followed in the wake of the beautiful head, the whole 
apparition occupying at least a hundred seconds in 
passing the glass, during which period the sight of all 
other objects but this sailing dense mass was entirely 
obscured. On the occasion I at first alluded to, I 
became so fixed with astonishment and doubt, that I 
should not have mentioned what I saw had not the 
figure returned and from the side where it had disap- 
peared I beheld it slowly, gradually, unmistakably 



136 GHOST LAND. 

float by the object-glass with even more distinctness 
than at first. This second time I could perceive as 
unequivocally as if I had been gazing at my own reflec- 
tion in a mirror, the straight, aquiline cast of features, 
the compressed lip, and stern expression of the face, 
the large, glittering eye, fixed like a star upon the earth 
beneath, and long lashes, like a fringe of beams, falling 
upon the side of the face. A vast curtain of streaming 
hair floated back from the head, and its arrangement 
seemed to imply that the form was moving at an incon- 
ceivably rapid rate through a strong current of opposing 
winds. When I had fully, unquestionably satisfied my- 
self that what I had seen was a reality, I withdrew from 
the instrument, then requested one of the company pres- 
ent to examine my pulse and report upon its action. 
w Moderate and firm," was the reply, given in a tone of 
curious inquiry ; K but you look somewhat pale, Cheva- 
lier. May we not know what has occurred to disturb 
you?" Without answering, I proceeded carefully to 
examine the glass, and to scrutinize all its parts and sur- 
roundings, with a view of endeavoring to find some 
outside cause for what I must else have deemed an 
hallucination. 

I was perfectly familiar with the use, capacity, and 
arrangement of the telescope, and as neither within nor 
without the instrument, nor yet in the aspect of the 
cloudless sky could I find the least possible solution to 
my difficulty, I determined to resolve the occurrence 
into the convenient word I have just used, and set the 
matter down as hallucination. But my friends were 
not so easily satisfied. Some of them were personally 
acquainted with me, and fancied they perceived in my 
manner a thread of interest which they were not dis- 
posed to drop. At last, one of them, an old and very 



GHOST LAND. 137 

venerable scientist, whose opinions I had long been 
accustomed to regard with respect, looking steadily in 
my face, asked in a deep and earnest tone, "Will you 
not tell us if you have seen anything unusual? We 
beg you to do so, Monsieur, and have our own reasons 
for the query." Thus adjured, but still with some hes- 
itation, I answered that I certainly thought I had seen the 
outlines of a human face, and that twice, crossing the 
object-glass of the telescope. 

Never shall I forget the piercing look of intelligence 
interchanged by my companions at this remark. With- 
out a word of comment however, the one whose guest I 
had the honor to be, stepped to a cabinet in the obser- 
vatory where he kept his memoranda, and drawing forth 
a package, he thus addressed me : " What you may have 
seen to-night, Chevalier, I am not yet informed of, but 
as something remarkable appears to have struck you 
in the observation you have just made, we are willing 
to place ourselves at your mercy, and provided you will 
reciprocate the confidence we repose in you, we will 
herewith submit to you some memoranda which will con- 
vince you some of us at least, have beheld other bodies 
in space than suns and planets." Before my honored 
entertainer could proceed further, I narrated to him as 
exactly as I could, the nature of what I had seen, and 
then confessed I was too doubtful of my own powers of 
observation to set down such a phenomenon as an actual- 
ity unless I could obtain corroborative evidence of its 
truth. w Receive it, then, my friend, " cried my host, in 
such deep agitation that his hand trembled violently as 
he unfolded his memoranda, and raising his eyes to 
Heaven, gleaming through an irrepressible moisture, he 
murmured in deep emotion, w Good God ! then it must 
be true." 



138 GHOST LAND. 

I dare not recall verbatim the wording of the notes I 
then heard read, as they were so mixed up with details 
of astronomical data, which have since become public 
property, that the recital might serve to do that which 
I then solemnly promised to avoid, namely, whilst pub- 
lishing the circumstances I then heard of, for the benefit 
of those who might put faith in them, carefully to sup- 
press the names of the parties who furnished me with 
the information. My friends then (five in number on 
the occasion referred to) assured me that during the 
past six months, whilst conducting their observations at 
that place, and by aid of that as well as two other tele- 
scopes of inferior power, they had, all on several occa- 
sions, seen human faces of gigantic proportions floating 
by the object-glass of their telescopes, in almost the 
same fashion and with the same peculiarities of form 
and expression as the one I had just described. One 
gentleman added that he had seen three of these faces 
on one night, passing one after the other, their transit 
occupying, with slight intervals between them, nearly 
half an hour. For many successive weeks this party 
had stationed themselves at distant places, at given 
periods of time, and determined to watch for several 
consecutive nights and see if the same phenomenon 
could or would appear to more than one observer at a 
time. The memoranda which record the results of this 
experiment were indeed most startling. Take the fol- 
lowing extracts : — 

K Tuesday, June 4, 18 . Third night of watching. 
Took my station at the glass at 11.30 p. m. At 2, or 
just as the last vibration of the clock resounded from 
the observatory, the first outline of the head came into 
view. This time the form must have been directly 
perpendicular, for the sharp outline of the straight 



GHOST LAND. 139 

profile came into a direct line with the glass, and 
enabled me to see a part of the neck, and clear the top 
of the head. The figure was sailing due north, and 
moved across the glass in 72 seconds," etc. etc. 

Memoranda 2d. "I began to despair of success as 
three days had now elapsed without any interruption 
of the kind anticipated in my observations. At 10 
minutes and 3 seconds to 2, I began to experience an 
overpowering sense of fatigue, and determined to close 
my observations at the moment my chronometer should 
strike the hour. 2.30. — The giant has just appeared; 
his head came into view exactly as the clock was 
striking 2, and placing my chronometer directly before 
me so as to catch the first glimpse of the time when he 
disappeared, I find that his transit occupied exactly 72 
seconds. Attitude horizontal, position of head, a direct 
and magnificent profile." Note No. 3 simply states : — 

" Tuesday, June 4, 18 . Titanus came into view 
at 2 o'clock precisely, sailed by in 71^ seconds, upright, 
and face in profile, moving due north," etc. etc. 

Some of the observations recorded by the spectators 
of this phenomenon were full of emotion, and as the 
venerable gentleman who first questioned me read over 
the comments this strange sight called forth, my com- 
panions were so deeply moved, and manifested such 
intense feeling on the subject of what they had seen, 
that the reading was several times interrupted, and one 
of the party remarked, he believed he should be dis- 
posed to shoot any one who should presume to cast 
doubt or ridicule on a subject which had affected them 
all so deeply. 

For the next fortnight I enjoyed the privilege of 
spending a considerable portion of each night in that 
observatory. Twice the strange phantom sailed before 



140 OHOST LAND. 

my view in one week. By permission of my friends, 
I changed my station and continued my anxious 
watch with another instrument. On the second night 
I beheld the Titanic head with even more distinctness 
than before, and three of my fellow- watchers shared the 
weird spectacle with me from different posts of observa- 
tion. One week later, although greatly fatigued by my 
long and close vigils for so many nights, I determined 
to avail my£elf of a final observation with one of 
the most superb instruments ever constructed. For 
many hours my exhaustive watch was unsuccessful ; but 
just as I was about to take my leave of the enchanting 
fields of fiery blossoms that lay outstretched before me, 
two faces of the same size and expression, the one 
slightly in advance of, and measurably shading the 
other, sailed slowly, very slowly into view. They 
passed on with such an unappreciable, gentle motion 
that I could almost have imagined they were stationary 
for some seconds of time. Their appearance so com- 
pletely surprised me at the moment when I was about to 
retire that I omitted to take note of the time they occu- 
pied in passing. The companion who shared my watch 
had pointed his glass a little more to the east than 
mine, and I had but time to murmur an injunction for 
hinr to change it as the figures came into view. He 
saw them, however, just as they were passing out of the 
field of vision, and exclaimed, with a perfect shout of 
astonishment, " By heavens ! there are two of them ! " 

Some years after this memorable night I received a 
letter from one of my associates in this weird secret, 
according to me the permission I sought, namely, to 
publish the circumstances I have related thus far, but 
carefully to withhold the witnesses' names. In answer 
to my query whether my correspondent had again seen 



GHOST LAND. 141 

the tremendous phantom of the sides, he replied in the 
negative, adding, "Call me superstitious or what you 
will : the whole history lays us open to ourselves and to 
each other, to such wild suggestions and inconceivable 
possibilities, that no hypothesis can seem so improbable 
as that we should all be correct. I will venture to hint 
to you, one of us, you know, that I have somehow always 
connected the apparitions in question with the preva- 
lence of the cholera. It was immediately in advance of 
this pestilence, and during the time when it raged, that 
we all saw them. Since that period we have never 
again beheld them, that is, none of us who now remain 
on earth. 

" These appearances ceased with the pestilence, and 
came with it. Could they have been the veritable 
destroying angels, think you? You, who are a mystic, 
should be able to answer me. I, with all my mate- 
rialism, am so terribly shaken when I recall the terrific 
reality, that I endeavor to banish its remembrance when- 
ever it recurs to me." 

Again, I have anticipated the experiences of later 
years, and been guilty of wandering from the line of 
narrative which the march of events prescribes. I feel 
as if I should attempt too to render the explanations 
of the foregoing circumstances which my astronomical 
friends looked to me to supply them with, but looked, 
as the reader may do, in vain. 

It seems to me as if a vain and egotistical fear of a 
sneering and sceptical age, keeps many others besides 
my astronomical associates silent on the occurrence of 
events which are chiefly remarkable because they are 
unprecedented, and which encounter jeers and denial 
chiefly from those who strive to measure eternity by 
the foot-rule of their own petty intellects. The buffets 



142 GHOST LAND. 

of such small wits as these have done me the good 
service of making me at last wholly indifferent to 
their opinions ; hence I have in this instance, and shall 
in many more throughout these papers, record what I 
oow to be true, without fear or favor. I can not 
always explain what I have seen, heard, and taken part 
in, but the favorite motto of a very dear friend has now 
become my own, and "the truth against the world" 
will be the ruling inspiration in the dictation of these 
pages. 



chaptek yin. 



STEAY WANDERINGS. 



"Come, Louis! let us leave all this. I am tired for 
you, — tired of seeing you exhausted in body and mind 
to please insatiate marvel-seekers; tired of beholding 
every nerve kept on the stretch, and a young life ebbing 
away to feed the curiosity of those who little know or 
heed that they are looking into the realms of the invis- 
ible through the telescope of your weary eyes. Come, 
my Louis! we will leave these festive scenes, where 
your very being furnishes forth the feast, to go and 
regale ourselves upon the fair face of Nature." Thus 
spoke Professor von Marx as I lay on a couch where I 
had sunk in sheer exhaustion some hours before, worn 
out indeed both in body and mind with the repeated 
seances, undertaken to gratify the numerous kind enter- 
tainers who besought us to "come and take rest" at 
their hospitable mansions in some charming retreat, 
which they converted into a scene of fashionable satur- 
nalia, where crowds of visitors were invited to meet 
and stare, and not uncommonly to sneer at also, "the 
great German occultist and his young somnambulist, 
who were so very wonderful and so very entertaining, 
and all that sort of thing." 

. Thoroughly sick of being lionized, and solicited, the 
professor to talk philosophy and put fine ladies into be- 
coming trances, and I to raise up Undines and Sylphs, 



144 GHOST LAND. 

and predict which would be the winning horse at the next 
" Derby," I joyfully obeyed the behest of my dear mas- 
ter to depart with him that evening on "urgent business," 
which would compel us to decline all further invitations, 
and leave the world of fashion for parts unknown. 

We did not travel very far at first, for I was too thor- 
oughly depleted to endure the fatigue of a long journey 
anywhere. Professor von Marx either desired me to 
realize practically, or else had to learn the lesson him- 
self, that the aims for which spiritual forces are em- 
ployed determine in a great measure the recuperative 
powers of the body that is their vehicle. So long as I 
was occupied as the seer of the noble professor, and the 
high-toned and powerful adepts with whom I had been 
constantly associated on the Continent, my soul was 
fed with intellectual inspiration, and my physique was 
vitalized by life-giving magnetism. I frequently passed 
whole days without food, whilst engaged in these ses- 
sions, yet I never experienced the slightest sense of 
fatigue, weariness, or hunger. 

I lived in a state of semi-ecstacy, my whole being 
sustained to its fullest capacity of reception, both men- 
tally and physically. 

In my dear master's presence I felt an influx of strength 
and spiritual power impossible to describe. I should not 
dare to relate to those who have never experienced their 
exalting and ecstatic possibilities the phenomenal evi- 
dences of magnetic force too which these seances evolved. 
It is enough to afiirm, it was as natural for the seers on 
such occasions to ascend in air, and float there at will, as 
to remain attached to the earth, in fact the token which 
a closed circle of adepts were accustomed to receive that 
their magnetic aura had combined in the required degree 
was the levitation of their seers, and their suspension 



GHOST LAND. 145 

in air for given periods of time. But let it be remem- 
bered that my companions were all intellectual men, and 
isolated in the grand purpose of their researches; they 
could at will send forth the spirits of their seers to trav- 
erse space, but they never exerted this stupendous power 
on trivial occasions or for the mere gratification of sel- 
fish aims. 

Their sole aspiration was to discover and gauge the 
forces of the unseen universe and penetrate into the 
profoundest of Nature's mysteries. They were often 
cold, hard, stern, and remorseless in the pursuit of 
knowledge, but in their presence the minds of their 
seers could not fail to grow and expand into lofty aspi- 
rations and soar away above the frivolities and petty 
aims in which most young people are educated. 

Of all their seers, too, I believed they loved me the 
most. Combined with their indomitable purpose of 
wresting from Nature her secrets at any cost, there 
was a special gentleness and appreciative respect in 
their dealings with me, which made the bond between 
us unusually kind and sympathetic, and thus I was 
kept completely isolated, I might say sacredly reserved 
for the most exalted purposes of research and aspira- 
tional effort. 

Let the character of these seances be compared with 
the littleness, selfishness, and frivolity of the fashion- 
able crowds by whom I had been recently surrounded, 
and the effect of the latter upon me may be measurably 
appreciated. It required but a few weeks of such a life 
to convert me into a forlorn, worn-out invalid, and to 
assure my dear master the stern restrictions he had laid 
upon the very thoughts no less than the lives and habits 
of the persons whose magnetisms were permitted to 

become incorporated into the systems of his sensitives 
10 



146 GHOST LAND. 

were justified by the practical though bitter experiences 
of his best-beloved somnambulist in fashionable English 
society. 

How well he understood both the nature of my suf- 
ferings and their cause, I one day learned by hearing 
him addresskfi^ a party of ladies and gentlemen who 
had been pleading for another seance, "just one more, 
before the cruel professor took his charming young 
mystic away, to bury his talents amongst German boors 
or plotting Illuminee." Addressing these butterflies in 
his gravest tones, I heard him say, " Spiritual forces are 
sacred elements which should not be tampered with, 
and unholy, impure, or sensually-minded individuals 
can more safely play with the lightnings, or hurl burn- 
ing coals at each other's heads, than deal with or touch 
the lightnings of life, or palter with the fires of soul. 
My Louis," he added with terrible emphasis, "is almost 
dying of such play, and I take him hence at once to 
: save the remnant of his — to me — most precious life." 
H fear I may not succeed in impressing my inexperi- 
enced readers with the force of these positions. I nar- 
rate them as they occur, faithfully and truthfully, but 
to an age that has been accustomed to regard occult 
power as a mere hap-hazard endowment requiring no 
culture, no conditions, and spiritual gifts, as a mere 
source of amusement or curious experiment, to be exer- 
cised at will in any company or under any circumstances, 
I shall never write understanding^, and my views will 
be regarded as overstrained or rhapsodical, and my 
narrative as exaggerated if not actually untrue. Still 
I re-echo the above-quoted words of my beloved mas- 
ter, and confident that in a succeeding generation, if 
not in this, their import will be duly recognized and 
acted upon, I proceed with my narrative. 



GHOST LAND. L47 

After passing through many a lovely scene, and halt- 
ing as our inclination prompted us at little wayside inns 
in the most rural and unfrequented spots we could find, 
Professor von Marx and I determined to make a torn 
through the lake district of Cumberland. Whilst we 
were lingering in this enchanting region, we were in- 
duced to make a detour of several miles from our pro- 
jected route, for the purpose of visiting the humble 
dwelling of one Frances Jones, an abnormal personage, 
known in that district as the "Welsh fasting girl." 
This case, which had attained considerable celebrity, pre- 
sented most of the general features which accompany 
protracted fasting, namely, long-continued fits of som- 
nolence and occasional intervals of remarkable lucidity, 
during which the girl delivered trance addresses of 
wonderful beauty and exhibited striking powers of clair- 
voyance and prevision. Professor von Marx was not 
prompted to make this visit by the motives of vulgai 
curiosity which attracted crowds of persons to the resi- 
dence of this phenomenon. He knew how long I could 
myself subsist without material sustenance; he had 
witnessed the extraordinary effects of renewed life and 
vitality I had exhibited by sleeping for some time on 
beds of fresh flowers or sweet-scented herbs ; above all, 
he had frequently seen me maintain a protracted fast 
of several days, without experiencing hunger or weak- 
ness, by simply placing me in the magnetic condition at 
stated periods, and surrounding me with a strong circle 
of powerful magnetizers. 

The professor and his associates had demonstrated to 
their entire satisfaction the triumph of spiritual forces 
over material in my case, and were prepared to carry 
their theories forward into still more extraordinary re- 
sults, when opportunities were favorable for their exper- 



148 GHOST LAND. 

iments. It was, therefore, with a view of analyzing a 
case which might present some kindred features that 
Professor von Marx and myself set out upon this 
visit. 

"We found our subject sitting upright in bed, with her 
eyes firmly closed, and her form and face by no means 
emaciated, though somewhat pallid from her frequent 
isolation from the light, which at times affected her 
unfavorably. Just as we arrived she was " in one of her 
fits," as her rustic parents informed us ; that is to say, 
in one of those crises or periods of her disorder when 
she was impelled to utter her singularly beautiful improv- 
isations, one of which she was pouring forth in a strain 
of remarkable eloquence to a crowd of gaping country 
folks as we entered the cottage. Directly Professor von 
Marx crossed the threshold the girl stopped speaking, 
and beckoning to him with an authoritative air, took his 
hand, laid it on her head, and with looks of ecstacy which 
transfigured her face into an almost angelic expression, 
murmured, "Great master, you are welcome! Speak, 
and I will answer you." 

Question. Tell me truly, is it Frances Jones or the 
spirit of another who addresses me ? 

Answer. I am the voice of one crying in the wilder- 
ness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! 

Q. Whose voice cries? 

A. Him that cryeth now as of old. 

Q. You call yourself John the Baptist, then? 

A. Thou sayest it. 

Q. Who and what is the Messiah you predicate? 

A. The outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh; and 
behold (pointing her finger at me) even there, is one 
of the prophets of the new dispensation. Thou knowest 
it, and he can tell thee all thou hast come here to inquire. 



GHOST LAND. 149 

Q. Not all ; I wish to hear from your own lips a de- 
scription of your case. 

A. Ask him; he knoweth. 

Q. By what means are you sustained in life? 

A. I am fed by the angels, and live on angels' food; 
I hunger not, neither do I thirst. 

Q. You speak now as Frances Jones : where is the 
spirit who first addressed me? 

A. He moves these utterances and inspires these 
answers. 

Q. Was he a man or an angel? 

A. If I should answer thee thou wouldst not believe 
me. Thou art of the sect of Sadducees, who say there 
is no spirit or angel. I cast not my pearls before swine 

The professor here smiled at me significantly, but con- 
tinuing to address the patient, he rejoined, — 

Q. Can I do you any good by the touch of my 
hand? 

A. Thou hast done all that was required of thee ; the 
closed gate is unlocked hy thy hand, and in due course 
of time the angels of restored health will reopen it and 
walk in. Now depart in peace. Thy seer will tell thee 
the rest. 

At this point the invalid sank back upon her pillow 
with a slight convulsion, which, passing rapidly away, 
left her features calm, pale, and tranquil, when her ordi- 
nary deep sleep fell upon her, and her parents assured 
us it might be many hours ere she would reawaken. 
Before we quitted the cottage I informed my master 
what I had clairvoyantly perceived in this case, namely, 
that a partial paralysis had attacked first the great solar 
plexus, then extended throughout the ganglionic sys- 
tem, finally impinging in the same partial way upon the 
cerebro-spinal nerves. The medulla and cerebellum 



150 GHOST LAND. 

were more powerfully affected than the cerebrum, and 
the pneumagastric nerve was more completely paralyzed 
than any other of the cranial system. I observed that 
the processes of evaporation and absorption remained 
untouched, and acted with their usual force ; hence, she 
could receive such nourishment as imponderable elements 
afforded her, and her assertion that she partook of angels' 
food was not altogether irrational. 

It is certain that little or no waste of tissue could 
ensue in a state which was entirely one of passivity. 
Though the vital functions were in operation, they pro- 
ceeded so slowly that there could be little more waste or 
evaporation than the process of absorption might renew ; 
hence the absence of emaciation or any evidence of that 
decay which might have been the result of inanition. It 
seemed that a certain periodical condition of activity set 
in at stated times, and kind Nature used these opportu- 
nities to attempt a renovation of the paralyzed system ; 
then it was, that the invalid became clairvoyant, uttered 
her remarkable trance addresses, and with eyes closely 
bandaged to exclude the light, which distracted her sen- 
sitive brain, the poor girl cut out paper flowers and 
made little drawings, which were sold by her poor rela- 
tives. I perceived that this young creature was sur- 
rounded by crowds of spiritual beings, who fed her with 
the emanations of plants, vegetables, and the magnetism 
of some of those who visited her parents' cottage. 

I also saw that the strong and potential magnetism of 
Professor von Marx, had, through the hand which he 
placed on her head, infused new life into her system, by 
virtue of which the paralytic condition of her frame 
had in truth been c? unlocked." Recuperative action 
once commenced, I had the pleasure of perceiving that 
nature would do the rest; that the real source of 



GHOST LAND. 151 

cure was already infused, and that with ordinary care 
this girl would be restored in two months more. I 
mentioned this promise in my clairvoyant vision to her 
family. Professor von Marx at the same time gener- 
ously supplied them with funds to supersede the neces- 
sity of their appealing to the charity of inquisitive 
strangers, and I had the satisfaction of learning some 
months later, that a gradual and apparently spontaneous 
cure had set in from the time of our visit, until this poor 
sufferer had become completely restored. I understood 
that her faculty of trance-speaking and clairvoyance 
ceased with her recovery, in a word, spirits found no 
more a vehicle for the reception of their influence, and 
her own normal activity furnished no longer the condi- 
tions for abnormal control. I have since witnessed many 
cases of long-protracted fasting, accompanied by som- 
nolent states and periodical conditions of clairvoyance, 
and I very much doubt if the physical causes would not 
be found in every instance measurably the same, had 
scientists the same opportunities for analyzing the ob- 
scure realms of causation as clairvoyance afforded to me. 
It was a few days after our visit to the "Welsh 
fasting girl" that Professor von Marx and I, sitting 
in the porch of a rustic inn-door, observed a tall and 
stately female approaching us, attired in the humble 
peasant garb, with the scarlet cloak and hood which 
distinguishes that singular class of vagrants known as 
"gypsies." Dressed as we were, simply in sportsmen's 
costume, and lodgers at an humble wayside public house, 
we did not expect to attract the attention of those shrewd 
wanderers whose favors are most liberally tendered to 
the wealthy; but our new visitor evidently deemed she 
was in the right track when she approached us, for she 
advanced with an air so decided that we felt as if we 



152 GHOST LAND. 

were fairly captured before she had spoken a word. 
Fixing her lustrous black eyes with the most piercing 
expression upon me, she asked in a sweet voice, and 
with a far more polished mode of expression than ordi- 
nary, if I did not want my fortune told. " See what you 
can find out for my father first," I replied laughingly, 
pointing to the professor, who sat by my side. 

" He is no father of yours, senor," said the girl decid- 
edly, "nor does he come from the same land, or own 
one drop of the blue blood that flows in your veins." 

]STow, if there ever were two human beings, who, 
without the slightest tie of consanguinity between them, 
closely resembled each other, those two persons were 
Professor von Marx and myself. "We were constantly 
taken for father and son by those who first met us ; and 
whether from our peculiar interior relations to each 
other, or because Nature had formed us out of the 
same mould I know not, but certain it is that it would 
have required some direct evidence to the contrary, to 
convince any stranger that we were not what we called 
each other, namely, father and son. As such we had 
been known in our rural wanderings of the last few 
weeks, and in those characters we had charged the 
single groom who attended us, to represent us at the 
inns where we stayed. 

This striking proof of our new acquaintance's dis- 
cernment then, awakened our curiosity, and induced us 
to let her proceed with her proposed delineation of our 
future. As far as the past was concerned, she gave a 
perfectly correct account of myself, my family connec- 
tions and characteristics, but when she came to depict 
the future she gazed at me with such deep and pitying 
earnestness that her eyes filled with tears and her 
sweet voice became broken with emotion. Her mode 



GHOST LAND. 153 

of speech changed, too, from the rambling monotone 
of her craft to a fine sonorous rhyme, a sort of lofty 
"rune," in which she prophesied for me a life of deeply 
tragic import, and sorrows which God alone knows how 
truthfully she foreshadowed. At length she paused 
in her sad, wild song, — indeed I interrupted her, — 
for I felt she spoke the truth, and yet I would rather 
not have heard the sad page rehearsed in those hours 
of fleeting sunshine and gladness. 

When it came to Professor von Marx's turn she 
absolutely refused to give him one word. He could 
neither bribe, threaten, nor coax her into a prophecy, 
and though her own bright eyes fell before his still 
more lustrous and penetrating glances, I saw the 
unbidden moisture trembling on her long lashes, as 
she resolutely reiterated she had nothing to tell him. 

Professor von Marx was in one of his satirical, if 
not gay moods, and snatching the little hand with 
which she was waving him off, he exclaimed, "What, 
not one word, my pretty Gitana? not if I cross this 
hand of yours with gold instead of silver?" 

"]^"ot for the wealth of the Indies!" she cried, in a 
harsh, frightened tone, as she fiercely drew her hand 
away. Then, as the color died on her flushed cheek, 
and the wild expression of her dark eyes became sub- 
dued before his resistless glance, she murmured in a 
beseeching tone, "Master of spirits, spare me! I dare 
not speak now." 

" Enough, enough ! " he replied, waving her off and 
throwing into her hand several pieces of silver, which 
she as hastily pushed back. " You are wiser in holding 
your tongue, Gitana, than you are in loosing it; but take 
your money, — nay, I command you!" The girl slowly 
and reluctantly dropped the money into a bag at her 



154 GHOST LAND. 

side, and was turning away, when the professor recalled 
her in a half-laughing tone, by saying, " We shall see 
you again, my fair Zingara; we are coming to board 
with you a while. What is your name, my princess?" 

" Juanita," replied the gypsy, in a low, humble tone. 

"And you are a queen in your tribe, Juanita, is it not 
so?" 

■* I am, senor," replied the girl, proudly. 

" I thought so," rejoined my master. w Well, good- 
by for the present! We shall soon meet again." 

The gypsy turned submissively away without a word 
and that night, in obedience to my wayward father's will, 
we left our groom and baggage at the inn, and the pro- 
fessor, carrying a small valise in his hand, led me, by an 
instinct peculiar to himself, over moss and fell, moorland 
waste, and through mountain-passes, until we had trav- 
ersed a distance of nearly seven miles, and at length, a 
little before midnight, we came in sight of the lonely 
field where outstretched tents marked an extensive 
gypsy encampment. 

Juanita, who was indeed the veritable queen or leader 
of the tribe which we were about to visit, seemed, by 
the same instinct that had guided us, to be fully pre- 
pared for our coming. She had ordered two tents to be 
got ready for us, and already our savory supper smoked 
upon the wooden platters laid out for our entertainment. 
The red fires were smouldering in dotted heaps over the 
wild heath; a few lanterns still burned at intervals on 
the; crossed sticks that upheld them. Most of the en- 
campment were asleep, but the beautiful Juanita wel- 
comed us as expected guests, with that natural grace 
which belongs to the dispenser of hospitality every- 
where. Professor von Marx took her aside and spoke a 
few earnest words, to which she listened with a downcast 



GHOST LAND: 155 

and reluctant manner. He then gave her money, which 
she received in the same subdued way, although at first 
she strenuously endeavored to return it. When the 
interview closed, she waited on us at supper with the 
grace and condescension of a captive princess, and 
showed us to our tents, in which beds of fragrant 
heather, covered with the skins of deer, were already 
prepared for us. My tent, I observed, was adorned 
with bouquets of sweet wild flowers, the professor's 
with some curious skins and a few stuffed lizards and 
reptiles. 

w The girl 's a witch," said the professor, as he ob- 
served these significant arrangements, w and has read us 
like a book." 

Before parting for the night my master gave me to 
understand he had long been seeking an opportunity for 
me to spend some days in this rough tent -life. " I want 
to bring you down from heaven to earth," he said, — "to 
make you sleep on the earth, and partake of earthly 
things ; it is only in this way I can hope to keep you 
upon the earth as long as you ought to remain." My 
master's expectations of benefit to an overtaxed frame 
were speedily realized. Deep and unbroken slumbers 
visited me under the greenwood tree, such as I had 
not known for many years. Relieved from the artificial 
restraints of conventional life, and subject to the rough 
but appetizing fare of these wanderers, I became posi- 
tively rugged, and delighted my watchful and anxious 
companion by the length of my daily rambles and the 
keen enjoyment with which I entered, for the time being, 
into the rough sports of my entertainers. 

Everything was so new, free, and enchantingly natu- 
ral that I began to contemplate the tent-life as my future 
destiny, and actually set myself to studying the manners, 



156 ■ GHOST LAND. 

customs, and language of these vagrants, with a view 
to my adoption in their respectable ranks. "Whilst the 
charm of this recuperative and healthful change lasted 
I sought to excuse to myself the aimless life of indo- 
lence I was leading, by endeavoring to discover if this 
singular people cherished amongst themselves any 
legendary opinions concerning their own origin. Exist- 
ing everywhere, but everywhere as a solitary, marked, 
and isolated band of fugitives; never at home, though 
everywhere familiar; always strangers, though they 
might be in the very country of their birth; realizing 
more completely than any other created beings the awful 
legend of Cain, "A vagabond and a fugitive shalt thou 
be on the face of the earth"; homeless, nationless, 
unconnected with any other races than those so widely 
scattered over the world, yet ever bearing in theii 
physiognomy, character, language, and customs, pecu- 
liar traits which never forsake them and at once distin- 
guish and isolate them from all other living peoples, — 
who can solve the problem of their exceptional and 
incomprehensible destinies? 

Except in respect to the peculiar characteristics 
which must accompany very poor nomadic tribes, I 
have never found amongst the Bohemians of France 
and Germany > the Zingari of Italy, the Gitanas of Spain, 
the Gypsies of England, etc., any marked criminal ten- 
dencies or specialties that seemed to explain the world- 
wide ban of proscription that has followed them for at 
least the eight hundred years during which they have 
been known as a separate people. I found on this 
occasion, as on many others, when, in later years I 
spent a few days of free, wild, untrammelled life 
amongst the Gypsies, that the great majority of them, 
though shrewd and crafty enough in some respects, 



GHOST LAND. 157 

were stolidly ignorant and indifferent concerning theii 
origin or national existence. 

Juanita was one of those rare and exceptional beings 
whose appearance amongst such hordes, serves to stamp 
them with an air of romance and throw around theii 
name and fame those captivations of ideality which 
have rendered them so celebrated in poetry, music, and 
romantic literature. Juanita was the reigning queen 
of a large tribe composed partly of Spanish and partly 
of English gypsies, over all of whom she, a Spaniard 
by birth and descendant of a former king of the tribe, 
ruled with undisputed sway. She was but twenty-five 
years of age, beautiful as a poet's dream, impulsive, 
passionate, poetical, and proud, with a natural tone of 
refinement and sensibility in her nature, come from 
whence it may, which would have graced an Andalu- 
sian princess. 

This beautiful and wayward being, deigned to select 
me as the special object of her favor during our esca- 
pade, and by way of disposing of Professor von Marx, 
for whom she conceived a corresponding aversion not 
unmixed with awe, she assigned him a guide and com- 
panion, in the person of her young brother Guido, a fine, 
intelligent lad some ten years her junior, with whom 
the professor took long rambles and soon became fast 
friends. It was our daily custom to make our simple 
sportsman's toilette, by a fresh bath in the flowing rivei 
which skirted the encampment. Our breakfast was par- 
taken of in the large common tent to which Professoi 
von Marx on our first entrance, had paid such a footing, 
as should ensure the foragers of the party a quiet holi- 
day and total cessation from their ordinary methods of 
replenishing the larder, during the whole time of oui 
residence amongst them. The morning meal disposed 



158 GHOST LAND. 

of, the men betook themselves to their petty trades as 
itinerants, the women to their domestic duties and the 
care of their children, of whom there were the usual 
bountiful supply. The professor wandered off with 
Guido, and sometimes joined a hunting party, which, in 
less choice phraseology, might have been termed by the 
more conventional name of poaching. Meantime I wan- 
dered off with Juanita to gather flowers and mosses, 
visit the most romantic nooks and glens of a wild and 
almost savage district, and hear this beautiful creature 
pour out rapid and singularly sweet poetical improvisa- 
tions concerning that beloved Andalusia of which she 
informed me she was a native, though descended as she 
sometimes claimed from " a long line of Moorish kings." 
At night we returned to the tents, where the professoi 
won all hearts by romping with the little ones, playing 
at rough sports with the boys, cards with the English 
gypsies, whom of course he always allowed to beat him, 
and making himself generally delightful to young and 
old, and such an astonishment in my eyes, that he would 
often burst into a fit of uncontrollable merriment as he 
caught my looks of amazement at his thorough trans- 
figuration. 

I was not less popular with these ragamuffins than 
my plastic master, for besides being the chosen friend 
of their proud and authoritative ruler, I sang them songs 
which I will venture to affirm obtained more rapturous 
encores and genuine applause than ever greeted a prima 
donna assoluta. Besides my voiles lied and Italian can- 
zonets, Juanita and the Spanish gypsies made sweet 
music with their guitars and lutes, and some of the 
English girls sang glees with a simplicity and sweetness 
that was wonderfully touching in this moon and star lit 
auditorium. 



GHOST LAND. 159 

One old crone of the English tribe, whose forte was 
story-telling, and who varied onr evening camp-fire 
amusements by legends which would have done honor 
to Munchausen, traced back for me the history of her 
people to one of the Pharaohs. She also detailed 
graphic accounts of some of her former states of exist- 
ence, she being, like others of her compeers, a decided 
" re-incarnationist," and finally gave me to understand 
that though she then performed the humble duty of tend- 
ing the gigantic cauldron from whose savory steams the 
promise of a real gypsy feast was to be derived, she well 
remembered the time when she was " one of the highly 
trusted officers of a certain mighty Pharaoh, by whose 
orders the great pyramid of Egypt had been erected, 
under her supervision." 

In their natural gifts of improvisation, prevision, and 
spontaneous clairvoyance, no less than in certain physiog- 
nomical peculiarities, these people continually reminded 
me of some of the still existing low castes of Hindostan. 

There can be no doubt that their nomadic lives and 
constant intercourse with Nature in her ever-varying 
moods, are all aids in unfolding the interior perceptions 
of these dwellers in tents; still there are vestiges of 
Oriental tendencies in their fervid imaginations, alle- 
gorical modes of expression, some of their customs and 
religious beliefs, which plead strongly for an inheritance 
derived from the far East in many successive genera- 
tions. Their language, too, although containing whole 
vocabularies of slang phrases and thieves' jargon, still 
partakes of the Sanskrit character, and there are some 
words which I found to be pure and unadulterated 
Sanskrit. A vague traditionary belief exists amongst 
them all that they originally came from the East, were 
a once " mighty people," but had become degraded and 



160 GHOST LAND 

scattered. To my mind they have never been anything 
but a degraded people. I am more and more inclined 
to the opinion that they came from one of those low 
and oppressed castes of India which were driven forth 
and scattered upon the face of the earth under Moham- 
medan rule and oppression. 

The most accomplished amongst them were astrolo- 
gers, and I found that their calculations and methods 
were purely Chaldaic. Juanita was as w r ell skilled in 
this art as any person, save one, I ever met with. That 
one was a distinguished Arabian physician, a member of 
the "Berlin Brotherhood," an admirable astronomer and 
mathematician; in fact, he was professor of astronomy 
at the scene of my boyhood's studies, and from him I 
learned the Chaldaic method of calculating the stars, one 
that had never been published to the world, and was 
only imparted under certain conditions to adepts. Yet 
here in the wilds of Cumberland I found it substantially 
known and practised by a poor Gitana, who could neither 
read nor write. w See, senor mio," she would cry, w I 
can not tell you how T I know these things, but I will show 
you." She would then find a flat stone or smooth piece 
of wood, and chalk thereon maps of the heavens, divid- 
ing the stars by lines and connecting them in squares 
and figures with an accuracy which perfectly bewildered 
me. Substantially I repeat, her method was that of the 
Arabian philosopher, and yet this untaught girl worked 
out with her fingers and piles of pebbles a scheme that 
she could have obtained only from Chaldaic sources, and 
those of the most occult and secret nature. Juanita 
informed me she had derived her knowledge from her 
father, like herself a ruler in his tribe, and that he 
again had obtained it by direct succession from a long 
line of ancestors. 



GHOST LAND. 161 

w Now, Nita," I said, " tell me the names of the stars 
you have figured out here, and then, show them to me 
on the heavens"; for I wished to see if this was mere 
routine work, or whether the girl really understood what 
she had drawn. Fixing her dark eyes on the shining 
field of light above our heads she began, in a high strain 
of poetical imagery, to describe the famous legend of the 
astronomical religion, pointing out correctly every con- 
stellation of which she spoke, but to my utter amaze- 
ment giving to those shining bodies, not the ordinary 
astronomical names, but their cabalistic titles and his- 
tory, and reciting some of the myths in this connection 
that I have never seen anywhere detailed, except in the 
ancient " Zohar " or * Book of Light." More and more 
perplexed by this sibyl's strange lore, I endeavored by 
every means I could devise, to ascertain how she had 
gained her extraordinary knowledge. I found then, what 
I had before suspected, that the gypsies were not, as 
has been generally supposed, conformists to the religion 
of any country in which they chanced to sojourn, but 
that with all their slang habits and reprobate style of 
life, they were genuine fire worshippers, and cherished 
amongst them the Sabaen system with the real ardor of 
Parsees. More than this I could not learn; but as Mta 
would go into ecstacies over certain stars which she 
delighted to liken to my eyes, ending by christening me 
her " star-beam," I determined to change the conversa- 
tion by inviting her to teach me the art of palmistry, — 
"that art, you know, Nita, by which we first became 
acquainted," I said. K Palmistry ! " replied the girl, with 
a scornful laugh; "there is no such thing as palmistry 
in the sense you mean it, senor; we don't really tell 
fortunes by the lines of the hand. See, she added, 

snatching impulsively at my hand and pointing to its 

11 



162 GHOST LAND. 

undefined lines, " you have no lines here, like working 
people. Such a hand tells nothing, save of the menials 
that work for you. No, no, senor; it was your eyes that 
told me all your sad, wild history. "When I look at the 
stars they tell me a thousand times more than those 
charts of my fathers; so it is when I look at your eyes. 
There I read your history, your soul, your mind; past, 
present, future^ — all linger in those dark depths so 
plainly, so clearly, that I could see, did I dare to gaze 
long enough, — ay! see the day when the earth will 
grow cold and chill because the lustre of your life 
will be quenched out of it." 

" Never mind that day, Nita, — would to heaven it 
were to-morrow! — but tell me yet more plainly how you 
see all this." 

"How should Nita know? It comes; it rises up to 
my mind and trembles on my lips before I know the 
words that are spoken. Mark you, senor, I have two 
ways of knowing. I first look into the eyes, and 
there I see the soul, — see its joys and sorrows, its 
weary travail and happy hours; I see its loves and 
i hates, and many of the paths it has taken the body, 
and many more it will have to follow. As to the hand, 
I feel, not see, its meaning. Few hands are so diffi- 
cult to read as yours, senor, for your heart is locked 
away in the keeping of yon dark Master of Spirits," 
pointing off, as she spoke, towards Professor von Marx, 
of whom she still retained an unconquerable fear; "but 
with most persons whose hands I touch, their modes 
of life, past, present, and future, come up with the 
heart's blood, and thrill through my fingers just as if 
I could feel out the words which tell the tale. This, 
too, is the way Marianna and Louise" (alluding to two 
other sibyls of her tribe) "tell fortunes, senor mio. 



GHOST LAND. 163 

Mother Elsie is blind, you know, yet she tells better 
than all of us, and she tells everything by the touch, 
and sometimes when she lays her withered hand on a 
stranger's head or a lady's dress, or even touches the 
glove or handkerchief that an inquirer has touched, 
she knows just as much as if the whole story were 
read out from a book. Don't you know this is true, 
senor?" 

" Quite so, Juanita. I have tested this Mother Elsie, 
as you say, and she can tell very wonderful truths ; but 
still you have not told me how Mother Elsie can do this, 
or how you can read my life in my eyes or feel it in my 
hand. That is what I wish to know, Juanita." 

"Because Elsie is a Gypsy and I am a Zingara, 
senor," replied the girl, simply. 

" You refuse to tell me then, Juanita," I replied, as- 
suming to be piqued at her reticence. w I thought you 
would have told everything to your friend; you prom- 
ised you would." 

A passionate burst of tears and the wildest protesta- 
tions of devotion, sincerity, willingness to lay down her 
life to please me, etc., followed, making me feel con- 
demned and humiliated for questioning the simple earn- 
estness of this poor, untaught child of the forest, and 
measuring her utter guilelessness by my own world- 
craft. It was evident to me, as it had become to Profes- 
sor von Marx, though he took other means to arrive at his 
conclusions, that these wanderers were naturally gifted 
with strong clairvoyant and psychometric perceptions, 
varying in degree, of course, with their different endow- 
ments, and that where these powers existed, they re- 
sorted to the fascinating gaze, or the touch of the hand, 
merely as a means of entering into rapport with their 
subjects, even as the old woman above alluded to — one 



164 GHOST LAND. • 

of the most celebrated pythonesses of her time — found 
the contact of some object which had been touched, nec- 
essary to open up her psychometric perceptions. These 
methods are familiar enough now amongst well-informed 
spiritists ; but in the earlier days of my investigations, 
I was unceasing in my endeavors to find a deeper 
philosophy than Nature herself afforded me for the 
exercise of spiritual powers. My search was and ever 
will be in vain. As to the astrological lore existing 
amongst these people, that still remained a mystery. 
The possession of such knowledge involves scientific 
attainments, not natural endowments ; and from whence 
they derived their information except, as Juanita insisted, 
by inheritance from their ancestors, I was at a loss to 
discover. 

The poor girl had no more to tell, that was evident. 
She was beautiful, intelligent, and highly gifted beyond 
any one that I have ever met amongst her class. 
Transplanted into a fairer soil, she might have graced 
the royalty of a nation instead of a tribe of vagabonds ; 
but she was a Zingara, and the laws of fate which bound 
her to her destiny were as absolute as those which had 
set the ineffaceable mark upon the first fratricide. During 
the fortnight we spent amongst her people, I learned 
one trait concerning them which merits more consider- 
ation than is usually allotted to it. The gypsies, as a 
race, are everywhere acknowledged to be irrepressible 
thieves, and their approach in any neighborhood has 
proverbially been recognized as the signal for drawing 
bolts and bars against their inroads. Some of their 
biographers have even gone so far as to assert that 
they live entirely by plunder, and that their assumption 
of practising itinerant trades and fortune-telling, are 
only so many pretences to facilitate their access to 



GHOST LAND. 165 

the houses or pockets of the wealthy. Whilst emphat- 
ically disclaiming the character of an apologist for this 
distinguishing feature of gypsy life, I must be allowed 
to urge that the people in their innermost natures 
regard themselves as Ishmaelites, and the whole human 
family as their natural enemies. They conceive them- 
selves to be in some way outcast from their nation, 
land, inheritance, or place amongst men. Regarding 
mankind ever as their oppressors, they deem they are 
as much justified in plundering from the rich and highly 
favored of earth, as God's chosen people of old deemed 
themselves righteously employed in spoiling the Egyp- 
tians. I learned this questionable piece of morality 
through the unlimited confidence reposed in me by the 
fair Juanita, who was better informed of her people's 
secret opinions and idiosyncrasies than any one of her 
generation perhaps. I learned, also, that whilst they 
dared not openly avow these opinions, they were in 
reality unquestioned articles of faith with them, as 
much so as gratitude is towards those who favor or 
oblige them. 

I have been repeatedly assured that the smallest arti- 
cle of property belonging to any person or persons who 
treated them well was as safe and exempt from spolia- 
tion, though it lay in their path, as if it had been guarded 
by bolts and bars. "Our honor and gratitude are the 
best bolts and bars mankind can use with the gypsy 
folk," said one of their old patriarchs, in enlarging upon 
this subject; and in truth they gave us a practical proof 
of their good faith, for though Professor von Marx and 
I had brought with us some few toilet appendages of 
value, and left these, like our money, wholly unguarded in 
our tents, often scattering small coin amongst the chil- 
dren with tempting profusion, we never found a single 



166 GHOST LAND. 

article touched or a penny abstracted ; more than this, 
we had occasion to send several times to the servant we 
had left at our inn, and though the external appearance 
of some of our messengers would have furnished a ready 
passport to any jail in the land, and our groom, accord- 
ing to order, frequently left them in tempting situations 
for petty plunder, we never found them fail in the strict- 
est fidelity to their trust, or guilty of committing the 
slightest act of peculation whilst thus engaged in a con- 
fidential capacity. 

I have already said we had commenced our residence 
in the encampment upon certain conditions, and I am 
bound to add that during the whole period of our stay, 
the neighborhood enjoyed complete exemption from the 
ordinary predatory habits of the gypsies, as a strict fur- 
lough was observed, and not one foraging party of an 
illegal nature issued from our peaceful ranks. 

The evening at length arrived when our Gypsy life 
was to terminate. 

The Zingari were instinctively aware of this, although 
we had made no formal announcement of the fact. Our 
groom was ordered to be in waiting with the horses at a 
short distance, and old and } r oung, from the cooldng 
crones to the crowing babies, hung around us with a 
half-respectful, half-sorrowful fondness, which showed 
what a depth of human kindness still lingered in those 
outcast hearts, and how readily noble instincts and gen- 
tle sentiments might be enkindled in the rudest natures 
under appropriate influences. "When all was done, many 
mutual kindnesses exchanged, and many slight presents 
forced upon the youngest and oldest of the tribe, the 
hardest task of all — at least for me — still remained. 
ISTo word of our intention to depart immediately, had 
been spoken to the fair queen, whose stately form I 



GHOST LAND. 167 

silently pointed out to Professor von Marx as she lin- 
gered by the river-side, some half mile distant from us, 
gathering the wild flowers with which she had been 
accustomed to adorn my tent. "Well, what of her?" 
asked the professor, brusquely. Somewhat confused by 
this direct question, I ventured to suggest, in a low voice, 
that it might be as well to take advantage of her pre- 
occupation, and depart without further leave-taking. 

w What! " cried my master,' with an unusual burst of 
merriment, — w steal a march upon our gypsy queen in 
the fashion of deserters, Louis ? Shame upon you for so 
recreant a proposal ! No, no ; that will never do. Be- 
sides, Juanita is too much of a sibyl not to know that 
the hour has come when she can' sing her siren songs 
no longer in the ears of her young Telemachus. But 
fear not, craven cavalier as you are ! The gypsy queen 
will speed our departure, not oppose it." 

"I think not," I answered, with some hesitation. 
" But why this haste, father? Could we not wait till 
to-morrow? " • 

" To-morrow ! " rejoined the professor, sternly. w To- 
morrow may be too late. We have lingered too long 
already. Know you not that this Juanita is the peerless 
beauty of her tribe, and that there is not an unmated 
youth in the gypsy universe who does not look to her 
with some vague foreshadowing that he may yet secure 
her as his especial prize? Come away, foolish boy, and 
that right speedily, unless you calculate to live, with a 
dozen bullets in your body from the rifles of as many 
vagabond rivals." 

w The bullet is not yet forged, my father, that can 
harm my life. My hour is not come." 

" Trust not too much to destiny, Louis. These half- 
and-half savages know you bear a charmed life, but 



168 GHOST LAND. 

they are not altogether unacquainted with the arts of 
'Gramarie.'* Do you know that some amongst them 
have been melting up the silver we have been so lavish 
in dispensing, and forming bullets with it? and do you 
know what silver bullets are used for in the black art? 

" To destroy those whose lives are deemed invincible 
with baser missiles/' I replied, carelessly. K I have no 
fear ; but how did you learn there was such a murder- 
ous plot on foot, father?" 

" Oh, by using my eyes and ears, and listening to 
the voice of a certain little bird called reason. But 
come ! we lose time. I give you one half hour to make 
your adieux, — and then for a swift horse and a mid- 
night ride ! " 

A few minutes more and I was by the side of Jua- 
nita, of whom, during this conversation I had never lost 
sight, as she gathered flowers by the river half a mile 
off. No one had been near her nor did she change her 
attitude until I reached her, when, stooping to address 
her as she sat#on a mossy stone, she murmured in her 
sweet, sad tone, " Juanita will sing no more siren 
songs in the ear of Star-beam. The hour has come when 
he must go, and the gypsy queen will speed his departure, 
not oppose it." The professor's very words! but how 
on earth could she have heard them at half a mile's 
distance? Then raising herself from the ground and 
slowly turning to gaze on the figure of my master, who 
still stood on the hillside and in plain view, she said, 
with a stern pride peculiar to her lofty moods, w O cold- 
hearted, insolent man of the world! Dost thou then 
think that the gypsy would turn to sting the hand that 
has fostered him? Dost thou know the wanderer so 
little as to deem that under the shadow of his own tent 

* Magical art, or sorcery. 



GHOST LAND. 169 

he would murder, in treachery and cold blood, the guest 
he has broken bread with? " 

"How is this, Juanita?" I said, gravely. "Do you 
then know that I am in danger from some of your peo- 
ple, and yet you have not warned me of it? " 

" Danger ! " cried the girl, fixing her full, fearless eyes 
upon me, with an indescribable expression of mingled ten- 
derness and reproach. "You, senor, in danger? Know 
you not," she added, sinking her voice again almost to a 
whisper, " that you bear a charmed life, and that the bullet 
is not yet forged which can harm you? Your hour is not 
come. Nevertheless I am not unmindful of what is 
around us ; but oh ! " she cried, her voice raised to a pitch 
of enthusiasm and her cheek deepening to the richest crim- 
son, " Juanita has thrown around her Star-beam a spell 
from which every danger will fall away, and every bullet 
will turn back harmless, save to him who speeds it against 
thee. My people may pursue the sunbeams that have 
dazzled their poor eyes, accustomed only to look upon 
the humble light of the glow-worm ; they may, with in- 
sensate envy of a beauty and nobility they can never 
attain to, hunt for thee after thou hast left behind, the 
boundaries which even our rude hospitalities make sacred 
and which would shelter thee from harm, shouldst thou 
stay amongst us forever: but my spell extends farther 
than that, — farther than the bullets of envy can ever 
reach; and thou mayst go on thy way harmless forever 
from any wrong that Juanita or her people can work thee." 

Poor Juanita! I left her with a path in life to tread 
the more lonely and desolate, because the sun had 
shone across it, for once, all too brightly; a destiny the 
more unendurable because glimpses of a better lot had 
flashed like streaks of lightning before the eyes that 
would look on their brightness no more. 



170 GHOST LAND. 

Three days after we had quitted the gypsy encamp- 
ment a strange accident befellus. We were wandering 
on the shores of a beautiful lake, and had halted to rest 
beneath the shelter of an overhanging precipice, where 
rugged projections shielded us from the afternoon sun. 
Just as we had placed ourselves in reclining position 
against the rocks, an immense mass from the portion 
above and beyond our heads, was suddenly dislodged, and 
fell with a tremendous crash on the pebbly shore, bury- 
ing itself with enormous force to a considerable depth 
in the loose ground at our very feet, and enclosing us 
in a narrow chasm between itself and the rocks against 
which we leaned. Simultaneously with this astounding 
descent, a shower of bullets was launched against us, 
which, being intercepted by the descending mass, dashed 
upon it in every direction. At the same moment the 
discharge of several rifles rang in our ears. 

The whole of these motions were so coincident one 
with the other that for some time we were unable to sep- 
arate and arrange each in its proper order. When we 
had succeeded in extricating ourselves from our newly 
formed prison and took note of the different points of our 
situation, we found the following series of striking coin- 
cidences. The rock above us had no doubt been long 
upheld in a very threatening position. Had we not re- 
treated beneath the alcove to which it formed a sort of 
roof, at a certain moment, it must have crushed us to 
death, as we should then infallibly have been standing 
in the immediate line of its descent. There in fact, we 
had remained up to the minute before it fell, when the 
inviting character of the nook induced us to retreat 
within its pleasant shade. Yet again, it was evident 
from a comparison of the rifle-sounds that we had heard, 
and the shower of bullets that beat against the descend- 



GHOST LAND. 171 

ing rock, that but for that friendly catastrophe, the said 
bullets would have found their lodgment in our recum- 
bent forms. That they were aimed against us was un- 
mistakable from the fact that nothing but the intervening 
rock separated them from us, and their flight could only 
have been directed at the same instant, or possibly one 
second earlier than the fall of the rock, seeing that the 
bullets reached its sides and surface at the same moment 
that it touched the sand. 

"The bullets were evidently aimed by the hands of 
assassins, Louis," said my master, after carefully inspect- 
ing the whole scene. 

w And the rock thrown down by those of our guar- 
dian angels," I added. 

* ■ Or the c atmospheric spirit ■ of the fair gypsy queen, 
perchance," said the professor, smiling; "for see! here 
are the traces of her subjects' work," gathering up and 
showing me a handful of the flattened bullets, which 
were made of pure silver. 

"You see, father," I remarked, "we bear charmed 
lives." 

"Even so," answered the professor, gravely; "but it 
may be as well in future, to avoid visiting powder maga- 
zines with lighted torches in our hands." 



CHAPTEE IX. 

THE LETTER. — THE LIFE TRANSFER. 

Time sped on, oh, how swiftly! The changing sea- 
sons with all their succession of varied beauty, alone 
reminded us how protracted had been our intended 
holiday, and how weeks had lengthened into months 
since we had determined to live — for a brief period at 
least — for ourselves alone and revel in scenes of enjoy- 
ment which we each secretly believed were means of 
restoration to the health and well-being of the other. 

I love to recall these wanderings, for they constituted 
the happiest period of my life, and they form, even now, 
the oasis in a stormy wilderness, around which the most 
cherished memories linger. 

Nature was to me an ever new, ever wonderful page 
of revelation. At the wave of my powerful master's 
hand, my external senses would become closed, suffer- 
ing my liberated soul to go free and my spiritual senses 
to explore that wonderful arcanum of life locked up in 
forms, colors, odors, and sounds, of which the external 
world gives but the faintest reflected shadow. With 
clairvoyant perception I beheld on every side, the myr- 
iad tongues of many-colored fire which played around 
or shot up from rocks, stones, gems, crystals, shells, 
grasses, flowers, — in short, from every form of mineral 
or vegetable life. Under the wondrous achromatic 
glass of spiritual sight, the life of the universe became 



GHOST LAND. 173 

revealed to me, and I found there was not a blade of 
grass or a sand grain, any more than a crawling worm 
or mighty man, that was not vitalized by an element 
which to the sense of sight resembled flame, and which 
in operation was life, with its varied graduations of 
power, eliminating motion and vital heat. How glori- 
ously beautiful creation appeared to me under the trans- 
figurating light of clairvoyance! I ceased to wonder 
that the ancient seer was a fire- worshipper, beholding 
in all luminous bodies the deific principle, and in the 
sun, as the centre of life, light, and heat, the god of 
earth, to which his knowledge of the universe was 
limited. 

In addition to the marvellous powers of discernment 
which clairvoyant sight afforded me, I also realized 
special faculties of perception through the spiritual 
senses of touch and smell. Every thing in being I 
found to be endowed with an individual character of 
its own, and it soon became apparent to me that, 
either by sight, smell, or touch, the human soul could 
come into contact with the soul of things, and thus 
recognize its special individuality. As sound could 
only be produced by the collision of two bodies in 
space, so the sense of hearing afforded a mixed revela- 
tion of two or more characteristics; hence I observed 
that sound represented the harmonious relations of 
things to each other; sight, smell, or touch, the indi- 
vidual character of the thing itself, and its grade in the 
scale of creation. 

I could at that time have readily made charts in which 
the universe of created forms, organic and inorganic, 
each in its place in. the scale of being, could have been 
ranged under their distinctive shades of color, their 
corresponding odors, and the density or rarity of each 



174 GHOST LAND. 

substance as defined by touch. Let me add that touch, 
like sound, was often composite in its impressions, all 
things in creation being so liable to come into contact, 
and all things that collide leaving upon each other 
an appreciable taint of each one's peculiar qualities. 
It is thus that the psychometrist is able to realize so 
correctly the characteristics which have surrounded or 
come into contact with any object under examination. 
The airs which sweep over the face of the rock, charge 
it with the characteristics of all the elements that are in 
the atmosphere, but organic life, and human life in par- 
ticular, as the highest, most potential, and comprehensive 
of all elements, inheres most powerfully to the inanimate 
objects it comes in contact with; hence, after some weeks 
devoted to the culture of my sense of touch, I found I 
could correctly analyze the characteristics of every hu- 
man being that had recently passed through any room or 
scene I chose to examine, determine to a certainty the 
mental, moral, and physical status of any individual 
whose glove, handkerchief, etc., was presented to me, 
in a word, "psychometrize" all things in nature, and by 
the sense of touch alone realize their hidden qualities or 
most secret potencies. 

I cannot commend these occult studies to any one in 
pursuit of happiness or contentment. The knowledge I 
enjoyed was often ecstatic, wonderful, startling, and sug- 
gestive ; but where it concerned the revelation of human 
character, and dug up from the mine of inner conscious- 
ness the secrets which were wisely hidden from ordinary 
view, the revelation was nearly always painful, serving 
to expose to my wounded sight, petty meannesses and 
interior stains, which lowered human nature in my eyes 
and rendered me so painfully sensitive to the spheres 
and atmospheres of every place I entered that I was 



GHOST LAND. 175 

obliged to put a strong guard upon myself, ere I could 
endure the revelations which public rooms, conveyances, 
or streets impressed me with. Yet in the midst of the 
pain, sorrow, and isolation which these revealments 
brought me, there were hours of unspeakable recom- 
pense. I often beheld such sweet stores of natural 
beauty and goodness hid away under unlovely exteriors 
that whilst I was on the one hand, shocked and dis- 
couraged, I w^ould be on the other transported with the 
discovery of the brightest mental gems. 

It was this interior perception which made me admire, 
yet resolute to shrink away from the poor gypsy girl. It 
was this which one day wafted to my sense of smell such 
a perfume as is exhaled from a bed of the choicest clove, 
carnations. Looking about me to discover in what human 
form this glorious emanation originated, one which my 
interior perceptions assured me must proceed from a 
generous and unselfish nature, I traced its source to 
a poor, old, threadbare street-porter, who stood waiting 
for employment at the corner of the square I was pass- 
ing through, and whose appearance was about as un- 
attractive as any which the motley city could have 
offered. Determined to verify or dissipate my fancy, 
if such it was, I entered into conversation with this 
person, and subsequently made many inquiries con- 
cerning him. Generosity, benevolence, and unselfish- 
ness were the characteristics wafted to my spiritual 
sense from this poor bundle of rags and wretchedness. 
Take the following description rendered me of this 
old man by a tradesman of the neighborhood who knew 
him well. 

*You would scarcely believe, sir, that yon forlorn 
old man was once a gentleman, and quite wealthy. He 
had a large family of extravagant sons and nephews, 



176 GHOST LAND. 

upon whom he spent his means so liberally that he 
reduced himself to abject poverty on their account. 
He was so good to the poor, too, sir, — ay, and he is 
so still, — that when he gets a shilling he can not keep 
it. He runs errands now for many a gentleman who 
has sat at his table, and who would provide better for 
htm if he did not lavish all that is given him on others. 
He should not be in rags, for he often has decent clothes 
given him, but he will strip them off his back to give 
to a poor neighbor, and go in rags that he may still 
help his dissipated and profligate family." 

How many sweet airs from the unknown paradises of 
the human soul have swept across my spiritual senses in 
this manner, bringing to light hidden virtues the world 
knows not of, and — alas for the per contra ! — how many 
foul and noisome exhalations have warned me from the 
sphere of perfumed fops and jewelled dames, whose 
attractive exteriors concealed the rank weeds of vice and 
base passions ! I have met in my career with several per- 
sons who partook of this faculty of discovering character 
by the sense of smell, — one dear friend in particular, who 
suffered so keenly from the involuntary revelations this 
subtile gift occasioned, that she besought her spirit 
guides to quench the power, and remove from her a 
source of interior perception that rendered her daily 
intercourse with her fellow-mortals at times unendur- 
able. 

When we are known for what we are, not for what we 
seem, in the realm of spiritual truth and revelation, we 
shall find the number of every living creature, and in that 
mysterious figure we shall discover the peculiar color, 
sound, smell, and touch which appertains to each, and 
recognize that all and each are revelations which contain 
the whole in the part; also we shall learn that the color 



GHOST LAND. 177 

of the odic light which lingers in the photosphere of 
every human being, the perfume which the soul exhales, 
the mystery of the impression conveyed by the touch of 
the hand, and the tone which vibrates through the air in 
which. we move or breathe, are all exact revelations of 
what we are and who we are; that all these things are 
known to the angels, and can measurably be felt, if not 
clearly defined, by every sensitive whose spiritual percep- 
tions are more or less unfolded. 

Oh, wondrous revelation, world of fairy lore, angelic 
teaching, heavenly inspiration ! How blest and happy I 
was when living in this unseen realm, — this universe of 
shining truths and spiritual entities ! Will these pages 
ever fall beneath the piercing eye of spiritual lucidity? 
If so, it will discover how I fence about the dividing line 
which separates me from this period of unmixed happi- 
ness and the bitter, bitter to-morrow that awaited me. 
One there is who w T ill read these lines understandingly, 
and to her deep, pitying sympathies I appeal, with the 
agonizing cry of K H"6t yet! not yet! Let me linger a 
while ere the flaming sword drives me forth from the para- 
dise of my vanished youth and early gleams of life-rest." 

"Wandering with my much-loved father in woody dell 
or over moorland wastes, sometimes encamping for the 
livelong night beneath the canopy of glittering stars 
and solemn, queenly moon, within the shelter of some 
ruined fane, through whose green, ivy-mantled towers 
and sculptured arches the celestial lamps looked in 
w T ith soft and holy lustre; sometimes reposing on 
grassy banks in deep communion with the soul of 
Mature, or stretched on yellow sands beneath the beet- 
ling rocks that overhung the ever-sounding sea, we 
lived for a few brief months on earth, yet not of it. 
Sometimes we sat for hours, our open books unnoticed, 

12 



178 GHOST LAND. 

listening in deep, abstracted mood to the tinkling stream 
or hoarse cascade, but ever recognizing in every sound, 
in every voice of Nature, from the • sighing breeze to 
the crashing thunder-peal, the story of creation sung 
by unseen intelligence. 

Happy days, and hours of divine entrancement ! How 
I love to roll the misty veil of fading memory back, 
and gaze again on your sunlit pictures, the bright real- 
ities of which are fled, all fled forever ! 

Professor von Marx had been summoned to London 
on business, and as he did not expect to be absent more 
than a few days it was agreed that I should remain in 
our quiet north-country inn, from whence we had pro- 
jected a tour into Wales. I insisted that he should 
take with him our only attendant, and leave me to the 
enjoyment of that deep, undisturbed repose which I 
prophetically felt was to be the last moment of hush 
and stillness I should ever know again on earth. 

A few days after his departure my dear father wrote 
me word that he wished me to join him in London, as 
he was likely to be detained longer than he had antici- 
pated, and could not endure to have me absent from 
him. I was staying at a very remote village, distant 
many miles from the railroad, which there was no means 
of reaching except by a stage or private conveyance. 

Having secured my place in a coach which was to 
leave at night and connect with the train which started 
for London the next morning, I proceeded to beguile 
the hours that must intervene before I could leave, by a 
final ramble in the beautiful scenery of the neighborhood. 

Towards evening, some three hours before that fixed 
for my departure, I sat down on the banks of a winding 
stream, broken by rapids and miniature cascades, to 
watch the glory of the approaching sunset. 



GHOST LAND. 179 

On the opposite side of the river was a high bluff of 
rocks which shut out the land view in that direction, 
but away to the west, hill and plain, valley and moor- 
land, were beginning to be bathed in a flood of crimson 
and purple radiance reflected from the glowing sky. 
"Whilst my whole soul was imbued with the soothing 
tranquillity of this lovely scene, there suddenly crept 
over me a shuddering chill, an indefinable sense of 
dread, which completely obscured the surrounding 
landscape and impressed me with sensations of unac- 
countable fear and loneliness. 

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the trunk 
of the tree beneath which I was sitting, when a whirr 
as of rushing wings sounded in the air, and the hag 
whom I had so often beheld as the precursor of evil 
tidings, flashed before my eyes, and with a mocking, 
gibing expression, terrible, hateful, fearful to behold, 
swooped close against my face, and then as suddenly 
swept on and was gone. In a few moments this well- 
accustomed yet ever-terrible apparition was succeeded 
by a thought which pressed upon me with overpower- 
ing urgency. The letter which Professor von Marx had 
given me some months before, seemed to rise up to my 
mind in a form so vivid that the impulse became irre- 
sistible to draw it forth from the lining of my vest, 
where I had placed it for special safety, and, holding it 
in my hand, turn it over and over again, with a senti- 
ment of deep and newly-born interest. At this moment 
it seemed to me that I heard a chorus of voices in every 
imaginable tone, crying, " Head your letter ! Read — 
your — letter — letter! Read! Read! Read!" I knew 
it was imagination, and yet those voices sounded very 
real in my ears. Some of them were hoarse and rough, 
others shrill and piercing, faint, near, distant yet close. 



180 GHOST LAND. 

I was under the influence of a spell, and determined 
I would break it. I was about to replace the let- 
ter in my vest when, in the midst of those weird 
voices so uncertain in their origin, one I never could 
mistake, one whose tones were the echo of my life's 
deepest meaning, even the voice of my dear adopted 
father, repeated my name, calling to me evidently from 
the high bluff on the opposite side of the river. 

Raising my eyes in amazement to this point of view, 
and in answer to his again reiterated sharp cry of 
"Louis, Louis ! Look up ! " I beheld Professor von Marx 
standing on the very edge of the rock, and leaning 
over its rugged sides towards me. In equal astonish- 
ment and delight I responded, " Dearest father ! is that 
you? Have you then come to fetch me? " Then rising 
hurriedly I looked about to see in what part of the 
narrow river I could find a ford so as to cross and join 
him, but again I was arrested by the voice of the pro- 
fessor distinctly pronouncing these words : R Open and 
read your letter ! The voice most authoritative to you on 
earth commands you. At once ! Now ! " 

With such a quick, imperative wave of the hand as 
I had never disobeyed, the professor turned away, and I 
saw his retreating form pass over the heights and melt 
away into the gray horizon. Perceiving that he was 
going around the hill in order to cross the river at a 
rustic bridge some half a mile below the spot where I 
then stood, and would soon join me, I, who had never 
yet questioned or resisted the commands of that poten- 
tial voice, resumed my seat against the tree, and opening 
the letter read the contents, which were as follows : — 

"It is now some months, my Louis, since the vague, un- 
satisfactory character of the researches to which I have 
devoted my span of life have begun to pall upon me, and 



GHOST LAND. 181 

strike like ice-bolts into my tired spirit, freezing up its 
energies and palsying its powers. The realm of being 
which alone responds to my piercing inquisition is too 
embryotic, and too far beneath the perfected intelligence 
of man, to feed his yearning aspirations or furnish his 
higher nature with healthful communion. Dragged down 
to merely rudiment al states, and groping amidst the cha- 
otic spheres of twilight intelligence, I am weary, life- 
sick, baffled ! When I would reach higher and ascend 
beyond myself, my soul only stretches away into the ocean 
of the unfathomable, where I find no compass to steer by, 
no pilot to guide me, and whether I stand in the gray mists 
of a coining morning, whose sunny light shall yet dispel 
all mystery, or linger on the edge of a vanishing day, 
whose evening shades will deepen into a rayless, never- 
ending night, I know not. I wander on in the midst of fog 
banks which skirt a shoreless sea, and the future has now 
become for me a problem too urgent and too terrible to 
wait for longer. I must solve it or perish eternally. But 
whilst my soul trembles on the verge of the unknown, the 
sharpest pang it feels is not for myself but for you, child 
of my love, being upon whom my all of heart-love or 
human affection is anchored ! For you, darling compan- 
ion, whom I have led into the same unfathomable abyss 
of mystery and unrest which destroys my own peace and 
almost wrecks my senses. To think that I have guided 
your young feet into the wild and awful solitudes of un- 
lighted gloom in which I am lost myself is now my bit- 
terest thought, my keenest pang of self-reproach. But 
Louis, spark of sunlight! the only one that now sheds 
warmth or light upon a starved and imprisoned nature, 
to you at least, I can and will make reparation. Even 
whilst I write I know that the end is for me fast ap- 
proaching. Louis, I am dying; and whether death be 



182 GHOST LAND. 

the sleep that knows no waking, no return, the worm of 
slow decay, or something I cannot comprehend of con- 
tinued life and consciousness, know it soon I must and 
will. Think not I shall hasten the time of this tremen- 
dous unfoldment by the coward's act of rushing from 
this life, or shaking off the mortal coil so hard to bear. 
2no, I scorn self-murder, nor will I commit any act of 
rash impatience. 

" In one sense alone can I speed the great denouement, 
and that is in acting out to you my intended reparation. 
Louis, I will give my LITE to you. I am now en- 
gaged in constantly projecting, by the power of my will, 
the life and force by which I am, in magnetic tides upon 
you. 

w I know it is in the power of the adept to part with 
these living waves and send them ebbing to the shores 
of another's life at will. 

"In this mysterious transfer my life can become 
yours, my being can incorporate itself with yours, and 
the effects will be seen and felt when I am gone, in the 
increased power and prime of your noble manhood and 
the enlarged capacity of your unfolded spiritual nature. 
My strength shall supplement your gentleness ; my pow- 
erful manhood shall uphold your dependent youth ; my 
commanding force shall inspire your attractive beauty; 
and this great and wonderful work is on the very eve 
of accomplishment. The woof of destiny is nearly spun. 
Day by day I keep the force of my will so exercised 
upon you that you can not, shall not see the fading pro- 
cess of my life's transfer to you, or note how thin and 
attenuated the cord becomes which binds the waning 
spirit to the dying form. 

"In the hour when the last process of transfer is to be 
made my body will be far away from you. I shall leave 



GHOST LAND. 183 

you a while alone, so that your glance of tender pleading 
may not recall me to the life I loathe, or stay my flutter- 
ing spirit on the shores of the mystic ocean in whose 
silent waves it must sink forever or rise to swell thy 
young life's barque with the freight of my new-born 
soul and its resurrected powers. 

" I shall leave thee during the process of the mighty 
wrench, my darling ; then shall I gather up the broken 
threads of life, weave them into one mighty chain of 
purpose, and throw the last links around thy neck, 
my Louis, to anchor there my liberated soul. Louis, 
I die that you may live. To you I give the fires 
of parting life, to you dispense the spirit's mystic 
breathings. If I live again, or the essence of my soul 
is not all dissipated into viewless ether, it will be as a 
part of you. I will my life to you, whilst yet I can send 
it forth in living fires to illuminate the temple of your 
spirit. I will to you whatever may be left of the smoul- 
dering flame when the breath of the destroyer shall have 
put it out for me. Perchance that dying flame may yet 
retain some spark of consciousness, which, added to your 
own, shall vitalize your frame, give double manhood to 
your character, clear from your spirit's eyes the scales 
of earth, lift up your soul to loftier heights than mortal 
ever reached before, and raise you above those grovel- 
ling elementary spheres in which we have been doomed 
to wander, to the shining realms of sunlike nature, in 
which the cause of causes must inhere. On earth fare- 
well, my loved one ! When these lines have met thine 
eyes thy father will be no more. Either thy soul and 
mine must be united in the mystic bonds of a dual life, 
or else the fires of mine will be extinguished in eternal 
darkness. One with thee or nothing ! 

"Felix von Marx." 



184 GHOST LAND. 

The letter dropped from my palsied hand. Grief, 
fear, doubt, and confusion filled my distracted brain. 

The sudden perception of my beloved friend's failing 
health, that glimpse of his real condition which a mo- 
ment of abstraction on his part had permitted me to 
catch when we were last in London, that glimpse of a 
possibility too dreadful for me even to dwell upon, yet 
that which had induced me to urge this country tour, — 
all this recurred to my mind like a torrent overleaping 
its barriers and rushing in upon an overwhelmed plain 
with resistless force. At length stole over me the stu- 
pendous reality that this beloved friend, this more than 
father, the master of my life and being, was no more. 
By this time, even at the moment when I held that aw- 
ful letter in my hand, he must be dead, — or rather gone, 
gone for ever! and oh, for what cause! Dead that I 
might live! What new and horrible mystery was in- 
volved in this confused and wild idea of a life transfer? 
At another time this one thought alone would have 
swallowed up all others, and compelled me to turn upon 
myself with loathing and aversion, — living whilst he 
was dead ! living because he was dead ! — but now all 
my visions of the occult were swallowed up in the one 
tremendous reality of my irreparable loss. Struck, 
stunned, helpless as I felt, I buried my face in my hands, 
cast myself frantically down on the grass, and gave 
vent to the anguish of a breaking heart in choking 
sobs and scalding tears. In the midst of my frenzied 
grief it was no surprise to me to feel a gentle touch on 
my shoulder and a caressing arm thrown round my 
neck. The capacity for new emotion was dead within 
me, and the heavens might have been shaken down to 
earth without awakening one ' sentiment of surprise or 
adding to the intensity of my feelings. Yet I heard 



GHOST LAND. 185 

again his voice, the voice dearest to me in creation; I 
felt again his touch, the touch of those lips through 
which my own life breathings seemed to have exhaled. 
That touch was surely on my cheek, and I heard him 
murmur in such accents as recalled his hours of deep- 
est tenderness, " One with thee forever ! "Weep no more, 
my Louis. There is no death ! " Mechanically I raised 
my streaming eyes to gaze upon the speaker. A flash, 
a radiant stream of light, the vision of those dark, lus- 
trous eyes fixed for a second only on me, looking into 
my soul ; then a radiant fire-mist seemed to hover round 
me ; a blazing star shot up from the earth on which 3 
knelt, sped meteor-like through the sunlit air, paling the 
glory of the western sky, then vanished in the heavens 
and left me — alone ! 

Upspringing from the cold, dark earth, the sunlight 
gone, and a rayless night now closing fast around me, 
I sped to our empty cottage. I knew he was not there. 
He had not been there,— I knew that, too. He would 
never come again, there or anywhere. 

A moment's pause to think out where I was, and then 
I was on the road to London. Oh, that weary road, 
that endless night, and the next long, weary day! 
Changes there were to make and hours to be sped 
away, — oh! would they never end? 

Somewhere upon that endless desert road I left my 
youth and boyhood, — left them behind forever, and as 
once more I entered gray old London, I returned a 
man, matured in a few short hours of anguish into 
untimely manhood. 

The streets were cold and empty, the night had 
begun to fall, and the dim, pale lights served only, as 
it seemed, to show me what a strange and sickening 
void had overspread the once gay city. 



186 GHOST LAND. 

I made my way to what had once been our home, 
but the familiar faces of the domestics who admitted 
me had grown strange and altered in my eyes. I asked 
no questions, spoke no words, and none addressed me. 
I think now, though I scarcely knew it then, that some 
one said, in a low and pitying tone, "It is the poor 
young Chevalier. How could he have known it?" 

Mechanically I ran up the stairs, stood before the 
door of our common sitting-room, and turned the lock ; 
but I retreated without entering, for I knew lie was not 
there. I moved on to another door, and now with 
throbbing heart and finger pressed on my hushed lip, 
softly, softly I trod. Stealthily I entered, — entered like 
one who feared to disturb a sleeper. I knew my step 
w^ould never wake him more: he slept the sleep that 
knows no waking. Something like a pra}~er stole 
through my bewildered brain, "Would God I were 
sleeping with him ! " Professor von Marx was dead. 
He lay all cold and white, with burning lamps at the 
marble brow and stirless feet, pale white flowers on 
the paler hands, and a frozen stillness everywhere. 
Professor von Marx was dead; and yet a still small 
voice, in the well-remembered accents of the speechless 
dead, rung through the hush and gloom of that solemn 
place, and seemed to murmur, " One with thee forever ! 
"Weep no more, my Louis. There is no death!" 



CHAPTEE X. 

IN THE WTLDERXESS. 

There is an instrument whose manifold uses few of 
earth's children really appreciate until they are com- 
pelled by necessity to use it. Should the gardenei 
desire to open the earth for the reception of the pre- 
cious seed, he takes this instrument to break apart the 
stubborn clods withal; when the plant he sows has 
grown to be a stem, he uses it to prune the branching 
shoots and trailing tendrils. The mineralogist applies 
it to sever the rough quartz from the pure gold 01 
shape the precious gem. The reaper uses it to cut his 
sheaves; the housewife to slice her bread; the butchei 
to prepare his meat; the cook to carve it; the surgeon 
uses it to cut, to probe, to amputate, to cure ; the assas- 
sin uses it only to kill : and thus from a single blade of 
steel all of life's uses for good or ill may be evolved;, 
nay more; these multitudinous uses can not be per- 1 
formed without it, and though in one single instance it 
may kill in the hands of crime, the knife that prunes 
and trims, dissects and amputates, and ministers to 
every form of art and science, may surely be esteemed 
as very good, even if its name is " sorrow." And yet it 
takes a life of many bitter trials to realize the manifold 
uses of this same keen knife, sorrow! I know this 
lesson now, though it has cost me many a year to learn 
it. I did not know it as I sat, a helpless, lonely being, 



188 GHOST LAND. 

more than a child in years, bnt far less than a man in 
self-reliance, beside the silent, rigid form of him that 
had been my idol, my very life, my more than self, the 
inspiration that had made me — anything ! I had been 
in the presence of death many times before, and de- 
spite all the lessons of the Brothers, tending to render 
me callons to the sight, it had always affected me pain- 
fully, depressing me physically, and filling my mind 
with a sense of blank mystery which derived no satis- 
faction from the doctrines of annihilation insisted on by 
my philosophic associates; bnt when the subject of 
these revulsive emotions was my more than father, O 
Heaven ! as I look back now on the dumb anguish of 
that terrible hour, the hour I passed in such awful still- 
ness and mystery with the best beloved of my life, I 
pity myself, and could almost weep for the miserable 
being, then too deeply sunk in despair to weep for him- 
self. But at length that dreadful hour of silent watch- 
ing ended; with its close, two fixed ideas took possession 
of my mind : the first was that Professor von Marx was 
no more, — utterly, irretrievably dead and gone, gone 
forever; the next, that I, too, must die, for life without 
him would not be wretchedness merely, to me it seemed 
an impossibility. 

Accustomed to act upon rapid flashes of thought, the 
future with all its bearings seemed mapped out before 
me the moment I roused myself to quit the chamber of 
death. My spiritualistic readers may question why I 
did not derive hope and comfort from the vision which 
had, in the semblance and tones of my beloved friend 
himself, apprised me of his decease. I answer, I could 
not at that time derive either hope or consolation from 
such a visitation. Facts make their impression on the 
mind in proportion to its tendencies and receptivity for 



GHOST LAND. 189 

special ideas. My mind had been bent into materialistic 
forms of belief. I had been constantly censured for 
indulging in any of the w vagaries " of religious aspira- 
tion; taught to regard immortality as the attribute of 
the elements only, and the apparitions of the dead, like 
those of the living spirit, as magnetic emanations from 
the body, which might subsist for a brief period after 
death, but which could maintain no continuous being 
when once the body became broken up by the process 
of natural disintegration. Even the many flashes of 
wondrous light, irradiated as they were, too, with intel- 
ligence, which had appeared to me in the semblance of 
the beautiful Constance, I had been taught to regard as 
subjective images only, projections from my own fervid 
imagination, taking shape in the " astral light," where 
the impressions of all things that ever had been, remained 
imperishably fixed. This was my creed at the time when 
[ silently stole down the stairs leading from the death- 
chamber, and passed out into the quiet street. It was 
deep night in London. A pale spring moon shone fit- 
fully through the rifts and rents of a stormy sky. The 
air was chill and blighting, and my neglected attire was 
not calculated to protect me against the damp, chill 
winds which moaned around me. I was all alone on 
earth, for though dim memories of friends and kindred 
flitted through my mind, they were all shut out by the 
one engrossing thought of him. A vague idea possessed 
me that some one on earth might be sorry for my loss 
and miss me ; but I could not centralize this idea on any 
one in particular, save on 7iim, and he was gone. 

Professor von Marx had succeded so far in filling up 
my whole being with himself that I perceived nothing 
real, nothing tangible in existence but his image; and 
now that he was no more, quenched, nothing, — what 



190 GHOST LAND. 

remained for me but to become, like himself, no more, 
quenched, nothing? With a rapidity truly astonishing 
to those who have not studied the philosophy of extraor- 
dinary mental states, I ran over the different methods by 
which I might arrive at the bitter end, but I rejected 
at once all that might incur, even for my worthless 
remains, publicity or curiosity. I would not be pitied 
or mouthed at, speculated over or talked about. In 
my utter desolation, I shrank even from the possibility 
of human sympathy or contact with pitying mortals 
when I was dead. I would hide away, die in secret, 
where none could find me. I finally determined I would 
starve myself to death, and thus gain time to see the 
world passing away and myself fading out of time 
before I was launched upon that ocean of oblivion, 
which had swallowed up my better self. One more 
thought of him I permitted my mind to indulge in ere 
I abandoned myself to my fate. Strange to say, that 
thought was not one of tenderness or regret: it was 
a sentiment of reproach, — reproach that one, to whose 
mighty will destiny itself seemed to bow down, should 
have thus forsaken me; or rather I inwardly questioned 
why he did not take me with him, — he who so loved 
me, he who alone of all mankind could understand me ! 
It was but a few short weeks ago that, in his half- 
dreamy, half-satirical way, he had affected to predict for 
me a splendid destiny. "Young, rich, and. handsome 
Louis ! " he said. " Youth, wealth, and beauty, — are not 
these the conquering graces before which the world bows 
down?" Alas! alas! Did he even then contemplate cast- 
ing me on the world, reliant on those adventitious aids 
to guide the stumbling feet that he had led so blindly? 
"With what a strange mixture of anguish and bitterness 
did the memory of those cold, speculative words return 



GHOST LAND. 191 

to me now ! Oh ! did he know me then so little as to 
deem that any possessions conld be aught to me when 
he was gone ? Gone ! Ay ! that was the word that put 
all questioning to rest forever. -On I sped, — past the 
quiet rows of houses and through the silent streets; 
on through miles of dreary suburbs, where the ugli- 
ness of waste places and half-built roads became soft- 
ened in the gloom of midnight; on through lanes and 
fields, — I scarce knew where, yet by an instinct that 
seemed to propel my eager steps, I pursued my way 
until I had left the city and all its hateful wilderness 
of slumbering life behind, and penetrated to the woods 
that skirted the north of London. I believe I was 
traversing one of those suburban districts known as 
Hampstead or Highgate. I had been driven there 
some months before, and was greatly attracted by the 
beauty and retirement of those woody heights, which 
at the time I write of, nearly thirty years ago, were 
almost in the country. 

I had no idea of the distance I must traverse to reach 
that spot, or the direction in which I should go, yet I 
wished to be there; and ere the deep pall of night 
yielded to the gray dawn of morning, I had attained 
my goal, and sinking on the ground beneath the shadow 
of a deep and almost pathless wood, I felt as if I had 
arrived at my last earthly home. Being unaccustomed 
to steady walking for any great distance, the excessive 
fatigue I had undergone, no less than the stunned con- 
dition which succeeded to the anguish of the preced- 
ing hours, induced a deep sleep, from which I did not 
awaken till the sun was high in the heavens, so high 
indeed, that I perceived the day must be far advanced. 

Unlike most persons who awake from the first sleep 
that succeeds some mighty sorrow to a gradual con- 



192 GHOST LAND. 

sciousness of the truth, I awoke at once to the mental 
spot from which I had sunk to sleep. There might 
have been but one intervening second between the great 
agony with which I lay down and arose again, to take 
up the burden just where I had dropped it. 

Instinctively noting the features of the place where I 
had sought shelter, I perceived it was not the deep re- 
tirement I desired to find. The woods were thick 'tis 
true, but they resembled more a grove of trees whose 
pleasant shade might attract suburban loungers to my 
retreat than a lonely spot where a hunted hare might 
die in peace. That was no place for me ; and quick as 
the thought occurred, the action followed on it. I 
started from the ground and determined to make my 
way yet farther on, — on to a safer solitude, one where 
no wandering foot of man might track me. I arose 
stiff, weak, and weary. At first I could scarcely drag 
my tired limbs from the spot where I had lain ; but as I 
moved, I gained elasticity of limb, and strengthened by 
my will and feverish purpose, I walked on for several 
hours, walked on in fact, till night again overtook me, 
I passed through many pleasant places, country roads, 
and shady lanes. I left behind me handsome villas, 
nestling cottages, and homes where happy people seemed 
to dwell, where children's voices and merry village tones 
resounded through the air. I passed them all, like a 
spectre as I was, shrinking from sight, sound, or com- 
panionship. The very echo of a human voice drove me 
away. 

Some wretched tramps in fluttering rags, with lean 
and hungry faces, passed me on the road, and looked 
wistfully into my face. An old and white-haired man, 
with very threadbare clothes, was tottering on amongst 
them, and fixed on me a pleading glance. One human 



GHOST LAND. 193 

feeling still remained within my seared heart, prompt- 
ing me to throw my purse amongst them. How glad 
they seemed! How I hastened on with wavering steps 
to escape from their noisy thanks ! Did they know that 
the youth " so young, so rich, so handsome," looked upon 
them, so old, so poor, so hideous, in their rags and pov- 
erty, and sighed to think he was not one amongst them? 
Undoubtedly they belonged to each other. There were 
fathers, sons, and brothers there perhaps; friends at 
the least they must be. But who and what was I? 
Father, brother, friend, — all, all were gone for me. 

On, on I sped, — on till night again overtook me. On 
the banks of a deep and sullen river I reached a thick 
and extensive wood. Pushing my way through the 
tangled underwood, a few steps brought me to a deep 
and rugged dell, whose gloomy depths seemed as if 
they had never been traversed by human feet. The 
solitude and utter desolation of this wild haunt were all 
I sought. 

Here I would stop and wait for the destroyer. An- 
other long, long night, but not as before a restful one. 
Aching in every limb and racked with feverish thirst, I 
spent that weary night in pain unutterable. The morn- 
ing came, and with it a new and strange sensation. The 
gnawing pangs of hunger now beset me. It was two 
days and nights since I had tasted a morsel of food, and 
this sensation of racking hunger was something new 
and urgent. I knew it was a part of the programme, 
a scene in the drama I had set myself to enact; but I 
had not considered, for indeed I did not know, how pain- 
ful it would prove. 

As the sensation deepened, my spirit seemed to pass 
out in the old familiar way and take note of many dis- 
tant scenes, but only of those where hungry people were. 

13 



194 GHOST LAND. 

I saw none but those who were hungry, because I sup- 
pose I was attracted to no others. I saw beggars, little 
children, old men and women ; poor laborers who had 
nothing to eat, and would not have till a long day's 
work was done. All were hungry, sad, and sullen. I 
saw those English work-houses where the wretched in- 
mates were always hungry, besides a great many little 
children who looked eagerly and longingly into the shops 
where provisions were kept. Many a little, emaciated, 
pale creature I saw crying for bread ; and besides these, 
my unresting spirit seemed drawn as by a spell to the 
interior of wretched huts, up to roofless garrets, and 
down into noisome cellars, where miserable people lin- 
gered, — people of both sexes and all ages; but all were, 
like me, so very hungry ! All of them had little or noth- 
ing to eat ; and the multitudes I saw thus, seemed to me 
to be more in number than I had deemed of the whole 
human race. It was a ghastly yet wonderful sight this, 
and awful to know that in one vast, rich, and mighty 
city were hungry wretches enough to constitute a nation. 
Presently I began to speculate upon the different 
effects which this one great pang produced on different 
people. Some of those whom I gazed upon were 
merely restless, then fretful, irritable, angry, sullen, 
savage: all these were stages in the great woe, but 
only the first stages. The next was a fierce, wild crav- 
ing, and after that the natures of these hungry ones 
became wild and brutal, whilst all the nervous force, of 
the system concentrated about the epigastrium, and then 
they Avere all hunger, just as I was all despair. Kind- 
ness, pity, shame, honesty, and virtue, — all were merged 
in the intolerable sense of urgent hunger; but this was 
an advanced stage of the pang, and was very terrible to 
witness. 



GHOST LAND. 195 

The physiological conditions of these people too, 
were opened to my clairvoyant vision as I flitted 
amongst them, a phantom drawn to them by the irre- 
sistible ties of sympathy. Had I been at the ends of 
the earth, and there existed but one hungry creature at 
its centre, I should have been infallibly drawn to that 
one, so potential is the strength of spiritual sympathy. 
How strange, yet orderly and strictly natural, I found 
to be the routine which ensues in hungry systems! 
First there was the sense of demand, the want which 
a craving stomach makes knowm to the intelligence, for 
the sake of its own repair. Then came the mustering 
of the gastric and salivary juices, promoted by the 
thought of food. These secretions flowed in tidal cur- 
rents to the salivary glands and gastric follicles, and if 
there was nothing to act upon, they began to dry up 
and become inflamed, and this it was that produced 
that gnawing sense of pain which attended the first 
stages of hunger, and communicated to the nerves an 
intense degree of irritability. In the next stage I per- 
ceived that the mucous membrane lining the digestive 
apparatus was in a measure consuming itself; also I 
saw how the entire force of the nervous system mus- 
tered to the point of suffering, and manifested sympathy 
with the epigastric regions. 

Hour after hour I traced by involuntary but inevita- 
ble clairvoyance the entire progress of this ghastly phe- 
nomenon, want, acting upon hundreds, ay, thousands 
of victims in and about the happy, well-fed, rich, and 
splendid Babylon of the world, — London. I noticed as 
a curious fact in the physiological results of starvation 
that whilst the tissues of the body generally, wasted, 
dried, and consumed themselves, the nerves never 
wasted, never failed; on the contrary, their power of 



196 GHOST LAND. 

sensation grew more and more acute with every mo- 
ment's bodily pang. Still more, I perceived that the 
ganglionic nerves which supplied the nutritive system 
attracted to its aid the force of the cerebro-spinal nerves, 
so that — mark it well! — there could belittle or no other 
sensation than that which arose from the intolerable 
sense of hunger and thirst; and thus it was made plain 
to me why poor wretches under the influence of this 
sharp pang are rarely moral, kind, or gentle. The ner- 
vous force which should be distributed through the intel- 
lectual and emotional regions being all absorbed by the 
fierce cravings of the digestive system, there can be 
no operation for the affections, the reason, or the morals. 
And yet again let me pause and remark upon another 
singular and noteworthy revealment of these clairvoyant 
wanderings. I saw the entire chain of connection 
between the brain and every fibre of the body; noted 
how conclusively motion and sensation, waste and 
repair, were all represented on the brain, and I marvelled 
why no brain metre had as yet been invented, first as a 
means of detecting disease in remote parts of the system, 
and next as a gauge by which physical conditions could 
determine corresponding states of the mind. In the 
starving miserables from whom all the nervous force was 
abstracted from the brain to the stomach, there were no 
cranial nerves in operation, save the pneumagastric, and 
these acting upon the surrounding fibres in the cere- 
bellum, necessarily prompted the appetite to revenge, 
destructiveness, acquisitiveness, and all the lower animal 
instincts. 

Meth ought had I been destined to a continuous life, I 
should forevermore have felt the deepest sympathy for 
the poor and hungry. I pictured to myself how glad I 
should have been to have fed the ghastly multitudes 



GHOST LAND. 197 

I saw, and how unreasonable it was for society to expect 
gentleness, piety, humility, and kindness, where the gaunt 
demons of want and poverty held their sway. 

Would that every legislator in the lands of civilization 
could have shared the perceptions of my wandering 
spirit in those dreary hours of suffering! Surely one 
great change would ensue in the laws of nations, making 
it a crime in legislation to permit any human being in 
the realm to go hungry, whilst for any citizen to die of 
starvation should be a blot sufficient to expunge the land 
where it occurred from the list of civilized nationalities. 
I think it must have been towards the sixth or seventh 
day of my terrible probation that the character of my 
wanderings changed. I had lost count of time, and 
being racked by intolerable thirst, I thought I might 
assuage that dreadful craving, and yet not prolong much 
my hours of torture. I made out then, to stagger to 
the edge of the river, and by dipping boughs of trees 
into the water, and laying my burning head upon 
them or applying them to my lips, I found the fearful 
sense of thirst in some measure allayed. It was so 
soothing to bathe my hands thus in the* cool river thai 
I lay down very close to it, and but for fear some 
one might find and recognize the poor remains floating 
on its surface, gladly would I have made it my winding- 
sheet, and thus have ended the awful struggle at once. 
Firm to my proposed plan, however, I contented myself 
with the luxury of the dripping boughs, and when 1 
found sleep overtaking me, I crept back again to the 
shelter of the secluded dell. I believe there were sev- 
eral heavy storms of rain and hail, drenching the ground 
and adding racking pains to my fast stiffening limbs, 
but my resolve never failed, though physical tortures 
began to increase upon me. A time came, however, 



198 GHOST LAND. 

when these terrible pangs became subdued, indeed at 
times I almost forgot them ; besides, let me add, the sense 
of hunger I endured, unlike that which afflicted the 
poor, was voluntarily incurred. I bore my sufferings 
willingly, because I did so in the hope of release from 
still greater misery. The sentiments of rage, envy, indig- 
nation, and bitterness, which would add such additional 
anguish to the pains of hunger in the starving poor, 
were not present in my case ; on the contrary, every pang 
that racked me was a response to my insatiate yearning 
to die and be at rest. 

But I have said there came another change, and this 
it was. "With the last minimum of my strength I had 
collected and surrounded myself with dripping boughs 
dragged through the cool river, and on these and my 
handkerchief, steeped in water and pressed to my 
parched lips, I laid myself down in the deepest recess 
of the wood I could find, to take my last, long sleep. 
Then it was that a sweet and restful sense of dying 
stole over me. Bright and wonderful visions too, 
gleamed before my eyes. In every department of 
being I saw the spirits of nature. With involuntary 
lucidity I gazed down into the earth beneath me, and 
beheld whole countries peopled with grotesque forms, 
half spiritual and half material, resembling in some 
respects the animal and human kingdom, but still they 
were all rudimental, embryotic, and only half formed. 
I saw the soul-world of earths, clays, metals, minerals, 
and plants. In those realms, were beings of all shapes, 
sizes, and degrees of intelligence, yet all were living 
and sentient. Everywhere gleamed the sparks of intel- 
ligence, the germs of soul, semi-spiritual natures, clothed 
with semi-material bodies corresponding to the varieties 
of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, with 



GHOST LAND. 199 

all their infinite grades of being. Some of these spirits 
of nature were shining and beautiful, like the gems 
and metals; some coarse and unlovely, like the earths 
and roots; all were endowed with some special gift 
corresponding to the plane of being which they repre- 
sented. In moistening my hands and face with the 
dripping boughs I seemed to be brought into rapport 
with the countless myriads of watery spirits, and through- 
out all departments of elemental life, recognized a sort of 
caricature representation of the births, deaths, kindreds, 
families, associations, and wars that pervaded the human 
family. Later on in time, though how long I never knew, 
I saw sweet and lovely lands filled with a sweet and 
lovely people mirrored in the shining air and nestling 
amidst the flowers and grasses ; in fact the air became 
translucent to me. I saw immense realms filling up the 
spaces of our gross atmosphere, which were permeated 
with a wonderful number of countries, each formed of 
finer and more sublimated vapors, gases, aromal essences 
and ethers than the other. In some of these realms, 
the flowers, bloom, and essences of earth, became spir- 
itual emanations, which crystallized into far rarer and 
more beautiful flowers, blossoms, and airs than any 
which earth could display. 

The lower strata of these aerial regions were filled 
with very small, sometimes grotesque, but generally 
beautiful people. Some of them were no taller than 
the daisies and buttercups of the field, some were as 
high as the bushes, and some towered up to the tops of 
the forest trees. Most of them were fragrant, flower- 
loving, merry beings, whose incessant habit of singing, 
dancing, leaping, and sporting in the sunbeams, filled 
me with joy. Many of these were short-lived races 
bubbling up with the ecstacy of a life which began and 



200 GHOST LAND. 

ended with the power of the sunbeam ; others lived long 
vegetable lives of many centuries, haunting the woods, 
groves, and forests, and seemed especially interested in 
all that belonged to sylvan lives and pursuits. I again 
repeat that all these elementary tribes were divided off 
into different strata of atmosphere, or inhabited different 
parts of earth, filling every space from the centre 
to the circumference, where new planetary existences 
commenced. All were endowed with varying degrees 
of intelligence, special gifts, powers, and graduated 
tones of life and purpose, and all appeared to me first as 
a spark, spear, tongue, or globe of light, pale, ruddy, 
blue, violet, or of different shades of the primal hues, 
and all at length assumed the forms of pigmies, giants, 
plants, animals, or embryotic men, according to the par- 
ticular grade they occupied in the scale of creation, or 
the tribe, species, and kingdom to which they corre- 
sponded. 

I learned many, many things of the immensity and 
variety of being which seem either impossible to trans- 
late into human speech or which w are not lawful to 
utter." I perceived that heat was life, flame its 

SUBSTANCE, AND LIGHT ITS MANIFESTATION. I mused 

upon the contending theories of the philosophers con- 
cerning the sources of light and heat, and I know now, 
though perchance I might never be able to prove my 
knowledge, that the true source of light and heat were 
in the life and restless motion of the living beings that 
pervade the universe. The thought struck me, re- 
flected from the teachings of conventionalism, that the 
sun must be the source of all the light and heat that 
permeates the solar system. Directly the shadows of 
this opinion crossed my mind, my spirit was lifted up 
into the spheres of responsive truth, and lo! instantly 



GHOST LAND. 201 

the sun became revealed to me like an orb of molten 
gold. Oh, what a wonderful and glorious sight this world 
of ecstatic being presented to me! I beheld it full to 
repletion of swelling, glittering seas, rivers, fountains, 
lakes, and streams, all dancing in the radiance of many- 
colored illuminations from the internal element of molten 
light. I beheld forests, groves, hills, vales, high moun- 
tains, and unfathomable caves and dells, all crystallized 
out of living light, all imprisoning prismatic rays, not 
of one, but of countless shades of color. 

The air, though translucent beyond our conception of 
the most attenuated ether, was still shimmering with the 
billions of glittering creatures that floated in it and dis- 
turbed its shining waves as they moved. Vast firma- 
ments, spangled thick with suns and systems, swung over 
all, a crystal arch, in which immensity seemed to be out- 
spread. From these glorious galaxies of worlds, count- 
less meteors were being forever thrown off, sailing 
through space like chariots of fire. 

The movements of the sunny worlds on high were 
plainly discerned too, and instead of a silent, moveless 
plain of stars, like that which overarched the earth, the 
wheeling, whirling stars were rushing on in their several 
orbits, shooting, darting, speeding round and round some 
vast and unknown centre, on a glorious scale of heavenly 
pyrotechnics which dazzled the straining eyes into 
wondering ecstacy. In lower air were sailing cars and 
airy ships, carrying the rejoicing people of these sunny 
realms from point to point in space, whilst some were 
floating by their own resistless wills, upheld by a perfect 
knowledge of the laws of locomotion and atmosphere. 
Thus they swam, sank, ascended and sustained them- 
selves on waves of air like happy birds, and oh, what a 
gracious race, what a nobly-created form of life they 



202 GHOST LAND. 

revealed to me! Tall and elastic, sunny-haired, blue- 
eyed, with slender, majestic forms, vast, globe-like heads, 
and lovely, placid faces, all attired in robes of snowy 
white, azure, or sun hue. Their cities were full of trees, 
flowers, and spire-like towers, with glittering domes and 
minarets crowned with metallic ornaments. These cities 
were divided off by white, smooth roads and shady trees, 
and a wealth of flowers that made the senses ache to 
inhale their perfume. Vast palaces of art and science 
were there devoted to the study of the universe, not in 
part, but all. 

Thus these children of the sun comprehended fully 
music, rhythm, speech, motion, chemical, astronomical, 
and geological laws. In short every form of art or science 
was known and taught in these vast and gorgeous cities. 
Labor was rest and exercise; work was knowledge 
put in practice, and food was the simple gathering-in of 
rare and precious plants and herbs and fruits that grew 
by nature where the beings of nature might demand 
them. Oh, what a glory it was to live upon this happy, 
happy orb, — to be a child of the gracious sun ! I thought 
by only looking on this radiant world all sorrow van- 
ished, and its very memory could never come again. 

Before the vision closed I perceived that for millions 
of miles in space, beyond the surface of the sun world, 
were glittering zones and belts of many-colored ra- 
diance, forming a hazy rainbow, a photosphere of spark- 
ling fire-mist visible to the eye of spirit alone, all 
crowded up with lands and worlds and spheres peopled 
with happy angel spirits of the sun. But ah me! I 
veil my presumptuous eyes as I dream again of these 
heavenly regions, and thoughts, thoughts like scintil- 
lations from the mind of Deity, fill up my throbbing soul 
as the memory of this wondrous world of heaven and 



GHOST LAND. 203 

heavenly bliss recurs to me now. The awful glory 
vanished, and when the gorgeous panorama faded, I 
knew where the light of our poor, dull planet's day- 
beams came from. I saw that the magnetic oceans 
flowing from this radiant sun sphere, combining with 
our earthly magnetism, created by mutual saturation 
that freight of heat and light, motion, and all impon- 
derable force, the sum of which was life. I saw that 
the light and heat and life which permeates all being, is 
evolved by galvanic action generated between the pho- 
tospheres of the parent mass, and circumferential satel- 
lites. Hence at those points which in the revolutions 
of time are turned from the central orb, no galvanic 
action is proceeding; the result is lack of action, lack 
of galvanic force, hence darkness, night. Life per st 
is motion, motion is light and heat. Light and heat 
are magnetism; and this causes the action and reaction 
ensuing between the negative photosphere of the earth, 
and the positive photosphere of the sun. This simple 
scheme, so like a schoolboy's lesson, pervades all the 
billions upon billions of marching and countermarching 
worlds, bodies in space, and all that in them is, in the 
boundless universe. 

Recalled at length from these blinding, wildering vis- 
ions, by my own near approach to the mystic gate where 
human life ended, and all beyond was veiled to me 
in shadow land, the weary, dying body put in its 
claim for sympathy and thought, and I was about to 
make a last instinctive effort to drag myself again to the 
river's bank, when my attention was attracted by a 
strange, chiming sound, such an one as had often before 
warned me of a spiritual presence. This time however, 
I fancied I heard a peal of very distant bells, such bells 
as ring out from some great city in majestic strains of 



204 GHOST LAND. 

joy and gladness; very distant, and subdued by dis- 
tance to the sweetest tones, melting almost to echoes ; 
still they rang in my dull and heavy ear. Then came a 
more distinct sound, like the rushing of mighty wings, 
and then, though my eyes were closed, I could see 
through their heavy lids, vast sheets of corruscating 
light, darting like gigantic fans over the entire quarter 
of the heavens which lay to the north. 

At first I thought — if thought it could be called that 
resembled a faint light streaming over a pathway where 
the clouds of death were fast mustering — that a great 
display of the splendid aurora borealis was illuminat- 
ing the scene; but in a moment the light became col- 
lected from space around, and centred on a radiant figure 
that stood before me, in size gigantic, in form like that 
of a man, in substance a fleecy mass of fiery glory. 
w I am Metron, the Spirit of the North," this being said, 
speaking in the same chiming tone as the distant joy- 
bells, " I am thy guardian spirit, chief of the Elemen- 
taries amongst whom thy soul hath roamed so long. 
Thou hast not dreamed nor fancied what thou hast seen. 
"When all shall be revealed in the light of spiritual real- 
ity, matter shall prove to be the phantom, spirit the sub- 
stance of creation. The visions of the body are dim, 
uncertain, changeful ; those of the soul are real, although 
often broken and refracted through the prismatic hues 
of matter. Thou hast drunk at the fountain of the real, 
for the first time in thy life, alone and unaided by 
another's will. A little while, another brief season of 
probation ended, and thou must live and walk, learn and 
know, by spirit teaching alone. 

"I am he to whom the task of guiding thy spirit 
through the first stages of the universe has been in- 
trusted. Lean on me, beloved one; and now for a sea- 



GHOST LAND. 205 

son, rest and sleep be thine ! In the hours that shall be, 
when thou livest again and art thyself alone, call on me, 
thy guardian spirit, — and Metron, Spirit of the North, 
will ever answer." 

Darkness, cold, death-damps, and deep, deep stillness 
succeeded. What do I last remember? Let me try and 
think. 

A voice, sweeter, softer, tenderer far than Metron's, 
whispered in my ear, "Louis! my darling, suffering 
Louis ! All will soon be over noMr, and then thy rest will 
come." 

Did I speak? Did I answer then? I know not. If 
I did the words must surely have been, w O Constance, 
let me die and be at rest forever! " * 

* Nearly the whole of the foregoing and succeeding chapters were 
rendered into English by the author himself, and although submitted to 
the Editor for correction, have been left untouched, the Editor finding it 
difficult to modify the author's peculiar style of constructing sentences, 
without marring their intention. — Ed. G. L. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE AWAKENING. 

Oh, to awaken free from pain, from care and toil, and 
sordid strife for bread! To feel no grief, no cold or 
heat, no thirst or hunger! nevermore to weep or know 
what sorrow is; to look on all life past as an empty 
dream, whose gloomy shadows can nevermore return! 
No more bereavement, bitter separations, injustice, cru- 
elty, or wrong ! No more heart-ache, not even a sob or 
sigh ! 

To feel no sense of weight or bonds to earth ; to float 
or wing on high in air; to speed like the lightning's 
flash through space, or sail like a bird on the buoyant 
waves of ether! To see the dull, round globe far, far 
below, with its canopy of clouds and its creeping myri- 
ads, insect-like, swarming upon its surface, all left be- 
hind! To look up through happy tears and melting 
fire-mists to the spangled heavens, so dim to earth, so 
gorgeously bright to you! To feel kind hands about 
you, tender arms- enfolding you, and, hear the tones of 
well-remembered friends, long-lost, almost forgotten, 
whispering sweet words of welcome in your ear; to 
gaze around and see a brilliant, happy circle of loved 
and loving friends, companions, kindred, beckoning you 
home, home, home forever! 

No more parting, no more death or sadness ! Oh, to be 
there! On, on through upper air! On, on, still higher, 



GHOST LAND. 207 

beyond the night and darkness, beyond the stars! Up 
higher yet! up through soft airs and sweet perfumes, 
up to the realms of never-setting sunlight, up above 
mountain heights, where glittering domes and towers and 
palaces are flashing in bright, prismatic, many-colored 
rays, and spanned by a thousand arching rainbows. 

To look down far, far beneath, and see white cities and 
long, bright roads, embowered in spicy groves and 
waving trees, and outstretched, flowery plains, all full 
of busy, happy, lovely beings, radiant with joy and life. 
Still to speed on, borne on in an airy car whose swift 
and rocking motion stirs the pulse, quickens the breath, 
and makes the wild heart leap for very gladness ! On, 
till you reach the lovely, lovely land far higher than the 
highest thought can measure, far off in . space, forever 
removed from earth and night and gloom ; the land where 
home is, and home the spot you most desire to reach; 
the place you long for, wait for, where all you love 
wait for you. Oh, glorious ride ! Oh, life of a thousand 
years pressed into one sweet hour! And such was my 
awakening, such my flight through space, such the 
rest a tired spirit and broken heart encountered. Vain 
would be the effort to speak of things and scenes and 
modes of life for which earth has no language, mortal 
being no parallel. Some few points alone of this bettei 
land I may describe in human speech. Let me recall 
them. Music ! Every motion there has its own sound, 
and when vast numbers of tones combine in harmony, — 
and all is harmony there, no discord, — that combina- 
tion forms music. Hence music is speech and sound; 
but when it is designed to represent ideas, recite a his- 
tory, tell a tale, or explain the marvels of creation, 
masses of symphonic music are performed; and as each 
tone is in itself an idea, every separate tone has a special 



208 GHOST LAND. 

meaning, and the whole combined form a language in 
which the highest glories of the universe can be revealed. 
There is no music in heaven without a real meaning; 
hence the listener or performer finds in music volumes 
of ideas. 

As I listened to the sweet yet awful symphonies that 
greeted me when I paused, all glowing with life and joy 
and love at my radiant home, I heard the song of life 
with all its deep, inner meaning. I heard and under- 
stood that poor, weak, trembling mortals are never 
out of the hands of creative wisdom. The tones of 
Nature sang of her eternal Author, Finisher; an all- 
sustaining, all-protecting Providence ; told of his good- 
ness, wisdom, power; instructed us to trust and lean on 
him; spoke of the grand design in suffering; the beauty, 
symmetry, and order of creation, when the finite being 
begins to understand the infinite. Home ! Can I convey 
by that precious word any realization, however faint, of 
the rest and peace of a heavenly home? I fear me not. 
Home was the place where my loved ones clustered, 
to which all their divergent wanderings tended back 
again. Home was the place where all my special tastes 
found expression, where I might stay, rest, grow, 
exchange glad greetings with all who sought or loved 
me, — a place to think in until I grew read}^ for another 
advance. Every spirit has a home, a centre of love, 
rest, and ingathering of new powers and forces, a 
place where all one has loved, admired, most wished or 
longed for, takes shape, and becomes embodied in the 
soul's surroundings. 

Sometimes the spirit gravitates, as mine did, to some 
lonely, church-like hall, a stately, silent place of inner 
rest and contemplation, and there the past resolved 
itself in shadowy pictures on the walls, and came and 



GHOST LAND. 209 

went like dissolving views, mapping out the minutest 
event or thought or word of my past earthly life, all 
which I found was fixed in the astral light, of which 
that temple was a Scripture page, forever. Oh, won- 
derful alchemy of spiritual existence! As I read again 
the panorama of my life, that ineffaceable record which 
every soul must read and read again, the past returned 
with its appropriate judgment. Many events which at 
their time of action I had felt regret for, even remorse, 
I now beheld as an inevitable sequence to other acts, 
stepping-stones, without which my life would have been 
incomplete. Deeds on which I had prided myself, now 
showed the littleness or petty egotism from which they 
sprang; sorrows which had wrung my spirit, appeared 
as blessings ; and thoughts I had lamented once, I now 
perceived to have been effects inevitable. I saw and 
knew myself to be a chemical compound, made up of what 
I had been, or what had been done, said, and thought. 
All things appeared in judgment, and, stranger yet, 
all that I had, all that I possessed, enjoyed, or saw, 
nay, the very air I breathed, was tinctured by myself, 
and I saw, felt, heard, and enjoyed only, as my inner 
nature colored my surroundings. All things were 
real around me, but my capacity to know and use them 
sprang from my inner self. O Heaven, keep our 
earthly record fair, or woe betide us in the immutable 
procedures of the land of souls L 

In another scene I may not fully speak of, I learned 
that our souls and all their faculties are magnetic tractors, 
drawing to themselves only such corresponding things 
and persons as assimilate with them. If the faculties 
are all engrossed by unselfish love, loving friends will 
answer. If the spirit reaches out for beauty, light, or 
special knowledge, the answer comes in kind, and sur- 

14 



210 GHOST LAND. 

rounds the soul with beings and associations kindred 
with its yearning's. Base passions, vicious habits, and 
criminal propensities find no responding satisfaction in 
spirit land. They are all outgrowths of earth and earthy 
things, and cast the soul down to those lower depths 
that permeate the earth and chain it to the scene of its 
affections. In spirit land, ideas are all incarnate, and 
become realities and living things. Nothing is lost in 
the universe. All that ever has been, can be, shall be, 
are garnered up in the ever-present laboratories of being. 
Glorious privilege it is to roam through the endless cor- 
ridors of time, and still to find an eternity beyond to 
grow in! The spheres! what may they mean? What 
mortal tongue or pen can fitly speak of them? Ideas 
abe spheres. There are ten thousand million spheres, 
all rounded into complete worlds, and all are the habi- 
tations of those who cherish the special idea which rules 
the sphere. 

The spheres are not permanent, but the temporary homes 
of those who pass through them. They are the garners 
into which are gathered up the sheaves of earth, there to 
rest and gain experience, until they become distributed 
and amalgamated into the bread of eternal life. There 
are spheres of love, where tender natures cling to one 
another, until they are drawn by higher, broader aspira- 
tions, out into broader planes of thought. There are 
spheres of every shade of mental light, ideality, thought, 
and knowledge ; spheres of special grades of goodness, 
intellect, and wisdom. In all and each is a special meed 
of happiness, but also in all and each are prevailing im- 
pulses to branch out farther, press on, and grow, so that 
every soul partaking of the special characteristics of 
every sphere in turn, may glean and gather in at last the 
good of all, and thus become a perfected spirit. 



GHOST LAND. 211 

"Worlds ts space, yes, worlds, — thousands, mil- 
lions of them; world within world, the finer perme- 
ating the grosser, the grosser filling up the space of the 
still more dense, until at last I saw no finite lines, no 
end to the infinitely fine, the infinitely dense. 

I saw the concentred scheme of the whole solar sys- 
tem with earth and its zones and belts of spirit spheres, 
countless in number, various in attribute. Myriads of 
rare and splendid beings sped through the spaces, pier- 
cing the grosser spheres invisibly to all but their own 
grade of being. Myriads of duller, grosser beings lived 
in these spheres, unconscious that they were permeated 
by radiant worlds, all thronged with glorious life, 
too fine for them to view. Each living creature was 
surrounded and enclosed by the atmosphere to which he 
belonged, and this restrained his vision to the special 
sphere in which he dwelt. Yet the finer realms of 
being could view at will the grosser; for now I found 
the secret of will: 't is k^ow t ledge put dstto prac- 
tice, and the knowledge of the highest is power, and 
power is will. Thus is supreme will resident alone with 
the Unknowable, the Being who knows all. In these 
spheres that so lock and interlace with another, I saw 
that the lowest and nearest earth were dull, coarse, bar- 
ren spheres, dreary and unlovely, where dark and un- 
lovely beings wandered to and fro, seeking the rest and 
satisfaction earth alone could give them. No homes 
were there, no flowers, no bloom, no friendly gatherings, 
no songs or music; the hard, cold natures of the wretched 
dwellers gave off no light, no beauty, harmony, or love ; 
yet all felt impelled, obliged to toil. Toil was the genius 
of the place, yet whatever labors were performed, became 
instrumental in digging up the spirit, and breaking the 
clods of hard and wicked natures. 



212 GHOST LAND. 

Every occupation seemed to come perforce and must 
be done, yet all seemed destined to help re-make the 
nature, open up new ideas, new sources of thought, and 
impel the hapless laborers to aspire after better things 
and higher states. I saw the flitting lamps of spirit 
hearts, bright missionary angels, who filled these leaden 
spheres with their gracious influence, and yet though 
often felt, were unseen by the dull-eyed inhabitants, 
except as stars or gleams of shimmering radiance. Ah 
me ! I fain would linger on the awful, grand, and wise 
economy of being, but the seal of mortal life is on my 
lips and on the minds of those I write for : who but the 
death-angel can break it? I hasten to the conclusion of 
my own brief pilgrimage. My noble father, my gentle, 
loving Constance, and hosts of the dead of earth, the 
angels of a better life, were around me. 

At length, in the midst of my great egotism of joy, a 
fearful pang shot through my mind as a dim remem- 
brance came of one w7io was not there. Stronger and 
stronger grew the thought, till again he filled my being, 
and I loathed myself because for a season I had forgot- 
ten him, — my more than friend and adopted father; 
but oh! where was he now, and why not with me? 
"Where was that dearest one of all, for whom I had 
given my life ? The pitying angels who thronged around 
me showed' how their wish that I should rest and gain 
strength and life and light in the land of souls had inter- 
cepted thoughts of him before, but now the answer came, 
and all too soon. 

The spheres I had seen were not the all of earth, 
though countless to me in number. Myriads there were 
within the earth itself, where lingered bound and cap- 
tive, vicious spirits, the ignorant, dull, idle, and criminal, 
who had not done with earth and who must learn, per- 



GHOST LAND. 213 

haps for ages, all that belonged to their human duties, 
ere they could pass the threshold, and enter on the life 
of the upper spheres; and yet beyond again, below, 
beneath the earth, inhered an anti-state of mortal being, 
vast realms where dwelt the spirits of nature. Here 
were millions of ascending grades of life, ranging from 
the vital principle of growth in the rude stone, to the 
shining spirits of the fire and air, who only waited to 
pass through the last stages of progressive life and 
death ere they should gravitate to earth and inherit 
mortal bodies and immortal souls. Crowds of aspiring 
spirits filled these realms, who were not men, but who 
looked to man in inspirational dreams and trances as to 
the angel which led and called them upwards. 

I had seen these elementary spheres through the films 
of earthly magnetism, and then they seemed bright, 
some resplendent as in the tales of fairy-land; but now, 
beholding them through the pure alchemy of spiritual 
truth, I saw that they were destitute of all the warmth 
and life and beauty that humanity confers. It was in 
the midst of the sad and barren realms of elemental 
spirit-life that I saw at length my beloved and impris- 
oned friend and adopted father. /I knew it all at once 
and how it was. He had on earth sunk his bright intel- 
lect down to these elementals instead of drawing them 
up to him by his own aspirations for a higher life than 
man's. He had descended below man to seek for cau- 
sation instead of ascending above him; and now, oh 
hapless fate ! he had gravitated to where he had chained 
his spirit. He could not look through the radiant 
realms of upper air and see me, but he felt the streams 
of pitying love I poured out upon him, and stretched 
his weary arms towards my spirit home in tender sym- 
pathy. Spirit-life, glory, peace, and happiness ended 



214 GHOST LAND. 

for me then. There was no more rest for me in heaven 
so long as I knew there was work to do for him. A 
strange and striking picture of life and what I could do 
was now unrolled before me. I saw myself on earth 
again, once more in the midst of suffering and pain. I 
saw the soul of my dearest friend clinging around me 
like a tender parasite. For a brief period I saw my 
life and his commingle like two quivering names or 
uniting rain-drops. For a season the spirit of my father, 
thus drawn back to the earth by the magnetism of one 
so very, very near to him, almost himself in fact, would 
be released from the lower elemental spheres, and resum- 
ing its life functions through my mortal body would 
shake off the old errors, strike out into new paths of 
light, rise to its natural home in spirit-life, and, looking 
through the windows of my soul's eyes perceive the 
glorious truth of spiritual immortality. My spirit should 
be the ladder on which his soul should rise from the 
elementary spheres through earth again to his home in 
the better land. This was to be my destiny and his. 

I saw it all and cried, " Speed, angels, speed me back 
to earth again ! Haste ! help me to release the impris- 
oned soul of him I love so dearly ! " But this was not 
all. I learned that I too had been robbed of my soul's 
manhood; that I had not lived my own life, but that 
of my erring friend. His spirit had usurped the rights 
of mine ; his will had superseded mine and left my soul 
a mere nonentity. 

I must return to live again on earth then, — return for 
what seemed in earthly measure many long and weary 
years, but still I must undergo their pains and pen- 
alties, first for the sake of my dearest friend, and next 
for my own. My destiny was all laid out before me, — 
the rugged paths my bleeding feet would tread, my 



GHOST LAND. 215 

heart's deep love, bereavement, desolation. The cold 
world's slights and sneers, the keen tooth of ingratitude, 
the harsh sting of injustice, — all, all were mapped 
before me like a baleful battle-scene intruding on some 
lovely landscape whose peace and joy it ruined. 

I felt an unbidden tear steal down my cheek whilst 
I bowed my head and murmured, " Thy will, not mine, 
be done." I knew that will was good. I had seen the 
glory, goodness, wisdom of the scheme, the perfect 
order in disorder, the good which sorrow brings, the 
triumph over evil, wrong, and death. 

I knew God lived and reigned. I felt his bounteous 
hand and all-sustaining presence upholding every crea- 
ture he has made, though their blind eyes cannot per- 
ceive his tracks. I knew that I could trust his eternal 
wisdom, and when the darkness should thicken round 
me, the thunders peal, and my blinded eyes could 
discover naught but ruin, he would be strong to save. 
The angels bade me take for my life's watchword, God 
uxdeesta^x>s, and I knew it was so. And now the 
fading light of the spiritual sun receded from my view; 
the joy-bells rang more faintly; the crashing symphonies 
of heavenly music resounded in dim echoes ; gray mists, 
descending thicker, faster, deepened into night, and 
closed around me. The stars came out above my head, 
as descending still, I floated down through the murky 
atmosphere of earth, upborne in the arms of loving 
spirit friends, and cheered by their whispered promise, 
" Ever with thee ! " At length I reached this cold, dull, 
lonely orb ; arrived at last on earth. 

They bore me to the solitary wood, the dreadful dell 
of mortal agony. Torches flitted through the darkness 
of the night, and at length, half concealed by trees and 
underbrush, I saw a rigid, pale, distorted form, a scarcely 



216 GHOST LAND. 

living creature, on which some kind and tender beings 
lavished human cares, and gentle eyes were raining tears 
of pity . At first I turned from the spectacle with loathing, 
but even then a voice, though far and distant, reached my 
ear, whose appealing tones cried, K Help, Louis ! Louis, 
help ! " It was his unresting soul that pleaded. That 
cry broke forth from his imprisoned spirit and wailed 
through the sad night air in accents of wildest anguish. 
I paused no longer. I know not how, save that I acted 
by a mighty effort of resistless will, but in one instant 
I ceased to be a freed and rejoicing spirit. Minutes of 
dull forgetfulness succeeded, then keen pangs awoke 
me ; the gates of life rolled back amidst my sobs and 
sighs, to let the spirit in, and gentle voices murmured, 
"He lives! Thank Heaven, he lives! and we are yet 
in time to save him." 



CHAPTEK XII. 

EXTEACTS FROM THE DIABY OE JOHN" CAVENDISH 
DUDLEY, ESQ., OF SQUARE, LONDON". 

[In the Introduction to this work, the editor has already explained the necessity of 
incorporating some portion of Mr. John C. Dudley's Diary into the "Ghost Land" 
papers. Without the continuous thread of narrative afforded by Mr. Dudley's inter- 
esting journal, there would be a hiatus in the record of several months, which the 

reader will readily perceive could not be filled up by the Chevalier de B , and yet 

this would leave a most important part of the history in a bald and unfinished state. 

^Neither the Chevalier nor Mr. Dudley have been very exact in the order of chron- 
ological data. The editor, however, being quite familiar with the narrative, is enabled 
from personal knowledge to state that the extract from Mr. Dudley's diary with 
which the following chapter commences, refers to the period when Professor von 
Marx and his pupil first visited England together, and antedates by several months 
the catastrophe narrated in the last chapter but one. — Ed. Ghost Land.] 

March 10, 18 . — Good news for the occultists of 
Great Britain ! Just what we wanted, in fact, and that 
is, the infusion of a new element into our effete, lifeless 
ranks. Although not one of us has half digested the 
good things we have been receiving for years, we have 
long been on the tiptoe of expectation, waiting for some- 
thing new. Well, unless my expectations are strangely 
disappointed, we shall have just the dish of excitement 
our blase palates have been hungering for ; for lo ! I shall 
have the welcome task of announcing at the Orphic cir- 
cle, of which I am the recording secretary, the advent 
of the great Professor Felix von Marx, the Cornelius 
Agrippa and Nostradamus of the nineteenth century, 
accompanied too by a peerless somnambulist, one whom 
the Illuminee of Germany exalt as the rarest and most 
gifted seer in the world. 



218 GHOST LAND. 

I don't very well like the tone of von Marx's letter 
though, for he declines to accept of my hospitality, old 
and dear as are the ties of friendship that bind us ; nor 
yet he adds, will he consent to parade the gifts of his 
Seer before the craving wonder-seekers of England. 
The boy he says is tired, and needs entire cessation 
from magnetic influences, besides they are coming to 
London as he assures me, chiefly to find out what we 
can show them; to determine what progress we have 
made in the black or white art, as the case may be, and 
learn whether the Teutons are not surpassed in magi- 
cal lore by the countrymen of Roger Bacon, Dee, and 
Kelly. Well, no matter what they come for, I for one, 
feel my heart leap with joy at the prospect of clasping 
hands once more with my dear and well-tried friend, 
Felix von Marx. Let me recall the circumstances of 

our early intimacy. At the university of "W , Marx 

and I were sworn chums. "We had but one heart, one 
purse, and one lesson between us. The heart was our 
joint-stock property; the purse was mine, the lesson 
his, for he did all my learning for me. What a bright 
and glorious scholar he was ! Took all the prizes, and 
never had any rivals ; I suppose because nobody dared 
to compete with him. What he ever found to take a 
fancy to in such a dunce as me, unless indeed it was my 
unbounded admiration for him, I never could under- 
stand; but I suppose we loved each other on the prin- 
ciple of positive and negative agreement; certain it is 
we were never apart, not even in the tremendous mys- 
teries in which von Marx had been initiated before I 
knew him, and which he, like a true friend as he was, 
determined I should share with him when we became 
such constant associates. Heavens! what awful things 
we did at that K association. If but half our 



GHOST LAND. 219 

doings had been known to the jealous German gov- 
ernment, — our fly-by-night excursions, our Asmodeus 
inspections of any house or castle we chose to enter 
spiritually, our Polter GJieist performances, sending 
our spirits out to knock about the pots and kettles of 
old fraus and pelt their pretty frauleins with rosebuds 
and spiritually written billets-doux! methinks we stu- 
dents of the occult, in secret session in our upper room 

at "W , would have been deemed fitter subjects foi 

fine and imprisonment than many a political plotter 01 
distinguished conspirator, hosts of whom were con- 
stantly under arrest, whilst we continued to cut up our 
capers unmolested and unsuspected. 

It was a hard matter for me to quit the university at 

W and my dear friend Felix, when my father at 

length recalled me for the purpose of placing me at 
that dull old anti-German, anti-spiritual, anti-every- 
thing that is progressive, Oxford College, but when 
after two years of useless waste of fees to professors 
who could teach me nothing, and "fags" who could 
cram nothing into me, my father thought the time had 
come for me to make " the grand tour," how gladly did 
I remember my promise to von Marx, and at once pro- 
pose him to my respected sire as the tutor most fit to 
accompany me. In vain I argued that though von Marx 
was in reality a shade younger than me, he was a per- 
fect octogenarian in learning and experience. My father 
had inquired about him, found he had just been appointed 
to a professorship in Oriental languages, but that, taken 
on the whole, he was a strange, mystical sort of a fellow, 
and anything but a fitting mentor for me. The subject 
was still in petto, when a brilliant diplomatic opening 
occurred for me in our minister's suite to Russia. 

No sooner was I installed in my new dignity than I 



220 GHOST LAND. 

discovered the immediate necessity of my having an 
under-secretary. Now Professor Marx was a splendid 
linguist, and besides the Oriental tongues, was a complete 
master of the Russian language. He could give intel- 
ligible expression to more consonants in one word of 
seven syllables in fact than any one of his generation. 
The result was, I proved to my father's entire satisfac- 
tion, that if I did not succeed in securing the services 
of Professor Marx as my under-secretary and instructor 
in the Russian language, my whole diplomatic prospects 
would be blighted, in fact, likely to come to a prema- 
ture end. 

My father appreciated the force of my logic. The 
case was stated to the professor, who, as an act of friend- 
ship, felt bound to sacrifice himself. His salary, fixed at 
double the worth of his professorship, his ragged college 
gown and cap exchanged for a neat suit of Kham- 
schatka dog, behold us smoking cheroots and plotting 
occult seances at our elegant quarters in the Grand 
Square of St. Petersburg. 

I had always loved the mysterious, doted on ghost 
stories, and though I shrank away with inexpressible 
terror at the idea of their realization, I ever returned to 
their study again, and cared for nothing so much as the 
wild, the weird, and the wonderful. ISTow, if there ever 
was a born Adept, with all the natural qualifications 
for a magnetizer, biologist, healer, astrologer, in a 
word, for a master of spirits and spiritual things, that 
Adept was Felix von Marx. As to me, my occult 
powers were my natural inheritance. My sainted 
mother, then in heaven, had been a seeress, my hon- 
ored sire, still on earth, was a devoted student of astrol- 
ogy. Coward as I was — I am bound to own it — in the 
ghost-seeing line, I never could get out of that invol- 



GHOST LAND. . 221 

untary and much dreaded accomplishment. When quite 
a little lad, I was regularly worried with ghosts. My 
father spent the autumn months generally at a fine old 
castle he owned in the north of England, and there 
these phantoms took such an extraordinary fancy to me 
that they walked with me, talked with me, met me in 
every gallery and corridor, made me come and go, 
fetch and carry just as if I had been a young sexton, 
and naturally belonged to the dead. I saw, moreover, 
sprites and fairies by the score; heard the mermaids 
sing and the tritons whistle ; in a word, there never was 
a boy more admirably adapted to be a good magnetic 
subject, never an operator more completely au fait at 
putting me through the spiritual kingdom than Felix. 
Of course we gravitated together as naturally as the 
magnet and its armature, and though, now I was in 
office and had attained to the dignity of a diplomatist, 
I declined to be put to sleep like a fractious child or 
sent out of my body as a Polter Glieist to scare honest 
peasants out of their wits with throwing stones and 
making noises invisibly, my love for the practices of 
mesmerism and magic only increased with my years 
and the fine opportunities which association with my 
accomplished secretary afforded me. I found Professor 
von Marx had made immense strides in occult knowl- 
edge whilst I had been wasting my time in learning the 
arts of impolite dissipation at Oxford. He had visited 
the East, where he was born, and had there picked up 
so many awful scraps of magic lore that I began to be 
almost afraid of him. 

Whilst we were deep in our plans for the prosecution 
of occult study, however, I suddenly realized the truth 
of that excellent proverb, ?r Man proposes and God 
disposes," in the very awkward fact of my falling des- 



222 GHOST LAND. 

perately in love. The object of this unexpected awak- 
ening, was a charming young widow, the relict of a cer- 
tain old German Margrave, the Prince de K , who 

had left his fair lady with a fair fortune, by virtue of 
which double accomplishments madame, the princess, 
became the cynosure of all eyes, and the target at which 
every bachelor in the land aimed his arrows. Of course 
I should have had little expectation of carrying off such 
a prize, with so many odds against me, had not the lady 
conceived a very agreeable plan of perfecting herself in 
the Russian language. She was visiting for the season 
at the house of some very distinguished relatives of her 
late husband's in St. Petersburg, and having frequently 
met us in the diplomatic circles, and noticed, as she 
courteously observed, the immense facility with which I 
acquired the throat-splitting language of the country 
under the admirable tutelage of my secretary, she in- 
quired in the most insinuating manner whether my 
studies could not be conducted in her salon, by which 
arrangement she could have the advantage of participat- 
ing in them. I was enchanted. To me the whole thing 
was plain. The princess had in this delicate way, hinted 
at her wish to enjoy my society untrammelled by the 
frivolous crowd who usually surrounded us, and thus 
I should be able to get the start of all my rivals, and lay 
siege to the fair widow's heart at my leisure. 

The only difficulty was, to enlist that cold-hearted 
Mephistopheles of a secretary of mine in the scheme. 
I did not dare confess the real motives that prompted 
me, for I could by no means venture to meet the tre- 
mendous sneer with which I knew he would meet my 
avowal of being in love. At length I conquered his 
stubborn prejudices against "the attempt to teach a 
woman anything but folly," by assuring him I was so 



GHOST LAND. 223 

situated that if I did not continue my studies in the Princess 

K 's private apartments I might be recalled to Europe 

at any moment. Yon Marx could not, as he affirmed, see 
the force of this position ; but at length, finding his friend's 
heart strongly set on the matter, he complied with the 
best grace he could. Thus it was arranged that I and the 
princess should read Russian three times a week in her 
elegant salon, where, by aid of coffee, chocolate, German 
poetry, and Italian music, I managed to get through a 
deal of covert flirtation with the fair widow, whilst the 
professor, ensconced in a distant easy-chair, pored over 
the pages of Cornelius Agrippa or Jacob Behmen. 

At length the tune arrived which I deemed ripe for 
my intended declaration. Taking advantage of my 
secretary's being laid up with a sore-throat, and present- 
ing myself one day in his stead, Russian books in hand, 
•—volumes, by the way, of which hitherto we had not 
found a convenient opportunity of cutting the pages, — 
I began to open my battery, and with a rush of enthu- 
siastic courage, stimulated by the absence of my sec- 
retary, I laid my name, fame, fortune, life, etc. etc., at 
the feet of the adorable princess. The result of this 
outbreak was a polite request on her Highness's part 
that I would discontinue my visits in future. I was in 
despair. I would instantly go mad, hang, drown, shoot, 
or freeze myself to death; I would cut somebody's 
throat, exterminate the human race, and by way of pre- 
liminary, I smoked ten cigars and wrote the princess a 
series of letters once an hour for three days. Each 
missive ended, like my cigars, in smoke. At length and 
just as I had made up my mind to confide in von Marx 
and urge him to plead for me, that gentleman called me 
into his apartment, lighted a cigar, begged me to do the 
same, and then, putting a letter into my hands, asked 



224 GHOST LAND. 

me to read it and tell him what I thought of that. 
What I thought of that, indeed! Great Heavens ! what 
should that be but a deliberate offer of herself, her 

name, fame, fortune, etc. etc., from the Princess K 

to Professor Felix von Marx ! Page and astonishment 
choked my utterance at first, whilst prudence and self- 
respect urged me to keep my own counsel at last. 
Recovering my composure, I began to congratulate 
my friend on his good luck. Of course I was glad, I 
was delighted, I should dance at his wedding furi- 
ously; in a word, I was "only too happy," I said, "to 
see him so very happy." But as I spoke, with a sar- 
donic grin worthy of a demon, I could not help remark- 
ing that my friend appeared most particularly unhappy. 
With a comical mixture of discontent and perplexity, 
he declared he could not imagine what the deuce the 
woman could want him for, but the worst of it was he 
did n't know how he was to get out of it. 

"Get out of it?" I exclaimed, in high indignation. 
"What! when the handsomest woman in St. Peters- 
burg lays her fortune at your feet? " 

" But I don't want the woman, nor her beauty nor her 
fortune either," replied the cynic. 

" But my dear fellow," I rejoined warming with the 
idea that my idol was to be slighted and insulted by 
being called " a woman," " you can't treat a lady of her 
exalted rank and character in that way. You must have 
her, you ought to have her, you shall have her, or — I '11 
know the reason why." 

" Whew ! " cried my friend, with a long whistle. " Am 
I to be married against my will, and to a woman I don't 
care two straws for?" 

I saw I must change my tack. Professor von Marx 
was just then the handsomest young fellow I had ever 



GHOST LAND. 225 

looked upon. Tall and finely formed, any Grecian 
sculptor would have laid violent hands upon him for a 
model. With what I had so often heard the ladies 
describe as " those lovely black, curling, waving locks," 
tossed carelessly over a noble brow; a pair of large, 
splendid dark eyes, that went right through everything, 
especially that frailest of all things, a woman's heart; 
with a classic mouth, fine teeth, and what every female 
authority declared to be w such a duck of a moustache, 
and such a love of a pair of whiskers," but above all, 
with a sort of indescribable, Oriental, magical kind of 
spell-like way about him that nobody seemed able to 
resist; who could compete with him? On the other 
hand, how could I, a slim, genteel youth, with narrow 
shoulders and a stoop, blue eyes and a cough, a small 
crop of straw-colored hair on my face and an equally 
slender allowance on my head, the latter of a stubborn 
character too, which no frizeur had ever been able to 
twist into curl, — how could such an one enter the lists 
with a von Marx and hope for success? Oh, if my father 
had only been an Arabian sheik or my mother an East- 
ern sultana, there might have been a chance for me! 
But as it was, and with the fatal experience of the 
princess's choice between a poor Adonis and a rich 
gawky, — as I in my humility deemed myself, — I saw 
there was no chance for me in future, unless I got von 
Marx married right out of hand. Besides, I loved the 
dear fellow in one way as much as I adored the faithless 
fair one in another way, and the only balm my wounded 
spirit could receive was to see them united. This done, 
I would seek an early grave, and — " die in peace." How I 
managed it I cannot tell, — whether by coaxing, scolding, 
or fairly badgering my friend into the match, I know not. 
Certain it is, I did succeed ; and after laying out before 

15 



226 GHOST LAND. 

Felix all the opportunities he would enjoy of following 
up his favorite pursuits as the husband of the rich and 

fashionable Princess K , I finally saw the knot tied 

by the chaplain of the embassy, and Professor von Marx 
and his illustrious bride departing for one of her charm- 
ing castles on the Rhine, at which spot I promised to 
join them as soon as I could get released from my now 
irksome official duties. 

It was three years before I was able to redeem this 
promise, and when I did, it was in company with the 
dear and lovely lady who had discernment enough to 
discover in the slim, genteel youth, whose many disad- 
vantages I had so humbly pitted against the splendid von 
Marx, the dear companion by whose life-long love every 
other female image has been displaced, always excepting 
the admiration I share for her, with three fair duplicates 
of herself, who now call me their loving father. 

"When I and my beloved bride reached H , and I 

had placed her to rest in the pleasant apartments pro- 
vided for us, I hurried off to the castle where my servants 
had learned the Princess von Marx was then residing. 
Great was my chagrin to find neither my friend nor his 
lady at home. Her Highness was out at the hunt the 
domestics told me, and the professor, — they did n't know, 
but they thought I should find him at the neighboring 
college. "At the college!" I repeated. "That is odd. 
What could he be doing there ? " They did n't know, but 
they believed he was there; if not, they did n't know 
where he would be. 

Hurrying away, with strange misgivings in my mind, 
I applied to the chief janitor of the college, and learned 
that von Marx was professor of the Hebrew and Arabic 
languages in that institution, and might be found in his 
own rooms in such and such a direction. 



GHOST LAND. ' 227 

Professor von Marx a teacher, and occupying shabby 
rooms in a third-rate college, whilst his illustrious con- 
sort was residing in a neighboring castle and amusing 
herself with a hunting party ! There was w something 
rotten in the state of Denmark " with a vengeance, I 
thought. I soon reached my friend's quarters, entered 
without ceremony, found him in, and received such a 
greeting as assured me whatever else was changed, his 
early friendship remained. In all other respects I found 
him a sadly altered man. He seemed to have grown 
taller and thinner, though he still retained his unparal- 
leled grace and symmetry of proportion; his air was as 
commanding as ever, but it was tinctured with a deep 
and stern sadness which added many years of age to his 
manner; his face though as noble and handsomer than 
ever, was pale and care-worn; his brow was contracted 
with an habitual frown, and there was a fixidity in his 
expression which almost made me shrink from him. 
His dress, though still gentlemanlike and clean, was 
worn and threadbare, and the furniture of his room 
was beggarly compared to that which in old times we 
used to share together. In the corner of the room was 
a rude, evidently home-made cot, shaded with a pure 
white coverlet, on which were strewed wild flowers, and 
beneath which slept a beautiful child, the father of whom 
unmistakably stood before me. 

Subdued in an instant to the tone of my friend's 
altered circumstances and appearance, I could only take 
his hand and stammer out, " How is all this, Felix? Let 
us sit down and talk it all over like dear old times, you 
know." 

And talk it over we did, and for a few hours the dear 
old times seemed to come back to my friend's wounded 
spirit. 



228 GHOST LAND. 

It was an old story von Marx told me, — the story of 
a marriage which was not made in heaven, and wherein 
the hapless couple were yoked, not mated. The prin- 
cess was a gay, frivolous butterfly, utterly incapable of 
appreciating anything in her talented husband except 
his remarkably handsome person. He was a stern, de- 
voted student of the occult, who found neither sympa- 
thy nor companionship in his fashionable wife; thus 
before six months had worn away, both had bitterly 
repented, — the one her infatuation, the other, the aston- 
ishing facility with which he had suffered himself to be 
" entrapped." 

Their lives of 'unceasing discord were, it is true, 
interrupted for a time by the birth of a lovely boy, upon 
whom the unhappy father lavished all that wealth of 
affection of which he was so capable, could any one 
have found and governed the secret of its source. 

After two years of mutual bitterness and recrimina- 
tion the ill-matched couple agreed to separate, and in 
so doing Professor von Marx retired, as he had for 
some time lived, entirely upon the proceeds of his writ- 
ings, translations, and lectures. He refused to accept 
the smallest portion of his wife's wealth, and finding he 
could not obtain possession of his idolized child by 
amicable arrangement with his lady, he actually carried 
him off by force, and held him under an unceasing 
watch and ward by the same means. 

He had gladly accepted the offer of a small professor- 
ship in the poor college of H , and was now linger- 
ing in that vicinity awaiting the tardy decision of the 
law in respect to his boy, whom the princess sought to 
reclaim. 

Such was the sum of a history which occupied in the 
relation many hours of the night. I heard it with great 



GHOST LAND. 229 

• 
pain, not only on my friend's account, but on that of my 
wife also. The princess and herself had been school- 
mates. Educated at the same convent in France, they 
had conceived a girlish affection for each other, and I 
knew my dear companion, with the zeal of her warm, 
loving nature, would be sure to take her friend's part in 
the impending dispute. 

For several weeks we lingered in the neighborhood 

of H , vainly endeavoring to effect a reconciliation 

between a couple who had nothing in common with 
each other to be reconciled about. 

"With the old sophistry of appealing to their sense of 
religious duty, we endeavored to convince them they had 
taken each other " for better or for worse," and ought to 
endure the worse if worse it were. The princess declared 
the professor had no more sense of religion than a stock or 
a stone ; the professor swore that the princess's religion 
was all carried in the feathers of her church-going hat; 
in short, our efforts were as fruitless as nature intended 
them to be. At length the time arrived for the decision 
which was to award the little fellow, who was the only 
tie of mutuality between them, to one or other of the 
parents, and the law, by what hocus-pocus I know not, 
decided to bestow him on the mother. The professoi 
had left his pearl of price in the college building in 
charge of a trusty friend, but before he returned from 
the court to defend his rights, as he certainly would 
have done unto the death, by force of arms, a party of 
German Jagers surrounded the place of the child's con- 
cealment, carried him off, and placed him in his mother's 
castle, under the protection of half a regiment of well- 
armed domestics. Deep if not loud were the curses 
which the bereaved father uttered, when he returned to 
find the little cot, which he had made and adorned with 



230 GHOST LAND. 

his own hands, empty, and his idol gone. "Were those 
curses vented on empty air alone, or did they take 
effect in the realm where evil wishes are registered by 
evil though unseen powers? Within twelve hours after 
the young boy was removed to his mother's castle, reach- 
ing out of a window to call piteously on what he insisted 
upon declaring was the form of his father in the court- 
yard below, he escaped from the grasp of his attendant, 
and screaming, " Coming, papa ! Erny ? s coming ! " he 
sprang through the open window, fell nearly sixty feet 
into the court below, and was instantly killed. Profes- 
sor von Marx soon after inherited, by the death of a 
near kinsman, a small independent fortune, and a title 
of nobility to which he was the next heir. 

The title he repudiated, the fortune he claimed, gen- 
erously offering to divide it with his late partner, who 
with equal liberality declined the proffer. 

This was the last communication the ill-assorted pair 
ever held, the professor having, as he has since assured 
me, never heard of or sought to inquire for his lady again. 
The princess is still, as I hear, a gay habitue of many an 
European court; the professor, one of the most cele- 
brated writers and lecturers on metaphysics of which 
the age can boast. Openly, he devotes himself to the 

duties of a professorship at the university of B , 

but privately, he has addicted himself to the incessant 
study and practice of occult arts, in which, throughout 
the secret societies of the East, Germany, France, and 
Continental Europe generally, he is acknowledged to 
be one of the most skilful and powerful adepts that 
ever lived. 

In a correspondence with me which has never been 
interrupted, he has of late years made frequent allu- 
sions to his deep interest in a young Austrian boy of 



GHOST LAND. 231 

noble birth, who was placed by his parents for edu- 
cation at the college of which yon Marx is still a 
professor. 

This child, he once wrote me word, was born, the 
very day on which his own idolized Ernest, then only 
two years and a half old, died. "Born one hour after 
the tragic event, this child," he added, " strange to say, 
resembles me so closely in appearance, that every mas- 
ter and student in the university remarks upon the like- 
ness. Day by day this weird resemblance increases, 
and if the dreams of the re-incarnationists had any 
foundation in truth, it might have been supposed that 
the spirit of my precious Ernest had passed into the 
form of the infant born in a far distant land at the self- 
same fateful hour that my Ernest died. I know these 
are worse than idle dreams ; still I have pleased myself 
at times by indulging in them, just as a weary man of 
the world might take up at some odd hour a fairy tale 
and linger over the page of fiction which once consti- 
tuted his childhood's delight." * 

* Since the editor of these papers has become intimately acquainted with 
the Chevalier de B — — she has frequently heard discussed, the extraordi- 
nary resemblance between him and his adopted father, named in these 
writings "Professor von Marx." A fine portrait of Professor von Marx 
is to be seen in a certain German collection of oil paintings, in which it is 
almost impossible to trace any dissimilarity between that and a portrait of 

the Chevalier de B at the same age, save in point of costume. This 

remarkable resemblance has been frequently cited to the editor and the 
author also, in confirmation of the re-incarnationists' theory that the soul 
of the dead child Ernest had passed into the new-born form of the Chev- 
alier, the period between the decease and the birth being only one hour, 
and the parties, though originally strangers to each other, having been so 
singularly brought together in later years. The author has requested the 
editor to record here his utter disbelief in this theory, or indeed in the doc- 
trine of re-incarnation at all. He himself is a firm believer in the existence 
of special types of physique prevailing throughout all the kingdoms of 
nature. He conceives that he and his adopted father belonged to the 
same peculiar type of being, and that the resemblance first instituted in 



232 GHOST LAND. 

Perhaps these circumstances may account for the 
extraordinary fancy which the stern and otherwise 
ascetic professor has conceived for the young Chevalier 

de B . I am advised that his personal adventures, 

marriage, and paternity have never been revealed to his 
protege, to whom, as he claims, he can veil or disclose 
his mind just as he pleases. Despite this boy's high 
birth, his family have it appears, consented to his adop- 
tion by the great and learned Professor von Marx ; and 
this then is the prodigy, whom the professor declares to 
be the finest seer and the most perfect ecstatic upon 
earth, and whom I hope soon to welcome as my honored 
guest. 

My dear wife and our three charming girls are not, I 
regret to say, in sympathy with my spiritualistic pur- 
suits ; in fact, they profess to be quite scandalized at the 
idea of their beloved husband and father being a K ma- 
gician," a practiser of the " black art," a regular Zamiel 
or Ashmodi. As to my two boys, they are such a rough- 
and-tumble pair of young profanities that I don't dare 
to trust them with any higher ideas on spiritualistic 
subjects than a mild ghost story or two about Christ- 
mas or New Year. Take it on the whole, however, my 
happy household are all agreed to disagree. My magi- 
cal pursuits moreover, are all conducted in other scenes 
than my own home, and whatever friends I do introduce 
there, are ever warmly welcomed by my wife and chil- 
dren. Professor von Marx is of course, well known to 
my wife, though not altogether her special favorite. 
With true womanly feeling she espoused the female 
side of the matrimonial dispute ; nevertheless she was in 

the architecture of Nature, was deepened to a perfect fac-simile by the 
formative process of magnetization during a period of many years, also 
by the strength of the attachment subsisting between the parties, which 
tended to mould even the expression of their features into similarity. 



GHOST LAND. 233 

the habit of saying to me privately, that any woman 
who was bold enough to offer herself in marriage, de- 
served just whatever treatment she might receive; so, 
take it for all in all, she did n't know that the fault was 
wholly on the professor's side. 

March 29. The long-looked-for guests have arrived, 
and I have just returned from my first visit of welcome 
to them. 

The changes which years have wrought in my friend 
Felix von Marx, seem to have intensified rather than 
altered his marked characteristics. In form and face 
he is still superb, but his manners are even colder, 
more resolute and self-centred than in the days of 
yore, when I and all around him bent before his indomi- 
table will. His friendship for me still remains undimin- 
ished, but the yielding points of his nature seem to be 
all called forth by his protege, to whom his manner 
always becomes softened when he either speaks to or 
even looks towards him. My long and curious study 
of mesmeric subjects, natural somnambulists, sensi- 
tives, etc., has been fruitful of a rich and strange expe- 
rience, and inspired me with much curiosity concerning 
the young man for whom Professor von Marx and the 
German mystics generally, make such high claims. 
How then can I permit my pen to record my first 
impressions of this paragon, and own that I was dis- 
appointed in him? Yet such is the actual fact. Per- 
haps I placed my expectations of personal gratification 
too high; but to me, he is unapproachable; I am 
troubled in his presence, troubled even when I think 
of him, and yet I am lowered in my own estimation 
for being so. In external appearance he so wonder- 
fully resembles his adopted father, that it would be 
difficult for strangers to believe there were no ties of 



234 GHOST LAND. 

relationship between them; the only perceptible differ- 
ences in these gentlemen are in respect to age and the 
fact that all the sterner features of Professor von Marx's 
expression are softened in his ward by an excessive 
sensitiveness. 

The professor's almost insupportable penetration of 
glance is subdued in this boy's magnificent dark eyes, 
by a dreamy, far-off look, which speaks unmistakably 
of the spiritual mystic. They are truly perfect types 
of a high magian and his subject, but that of which 
I complain — if indeed I have any right to use such a 
word — is the entire absence of pleasure, earthly interest 
or sympathy in this young man's manner. He received 
me as if he were in a dream ; answered when I addressed 
him, as if by an effort to recall himself to my presence 
or remember where he was. His sweet and beauti- 
fully modulated voice, sounded a long way off, and his 
entire personel was so statuesque and unearthly, that I 
could have almost imagined I was a boy again, and shiv- 
ering under the old superstitious awe which used to pos- 
sess me when I deemed I was in presence of a spirit, or, 
in more homely phrase, thought I saw a ghost. 

I noticed, moreover, the wonderful, I may truly say 
the unspeakable, understanding that subsisted between 
these strangely-matched persons. Professor von Marx 
seldom addressed a w^ord to his friend during the whole 
interview, yet the latter frequently rose, handed him a 
book, some papers, or other matters he required, without 
any other than a mental request. He evidently under- 
stood and obeyed the least thought in the professor's 
mind, and on more than one occasion turned towards 
him, and by silent looks replied to his unspoken 
thoughts. Through the same extraordinary process of 
soul intercourse, the professor would fix his questioning 



GHOST LAND. 235 

eyes upon his ward, and obtain an answer without one 
syllable being interchanged between them. I have often 
seen and wondered at the remarkable rapport which 
existed between my own mesmerized subjects and my- 
self. I have seen still more positive evidences of pure, 
mental transfer between the Lucides of the celebrated 
Baron Dupotet, MM. Billot, Deleuze, and Cahagnet, 
also with a number of my English associates, whose hon- 
ored names I withhold in view of my anonymous style 
of writing ; but I never beheld any system of soul inter- 
course so perfect as that which existed between these 
unrelated Teutons, nor so complete an adept in mind- 
reading as this young Chevalier. 

After a short experience of the singular influence 
diffused by this speechless intelligence, I began to com- 
prehend that it was the source of the troubled feeling 
which possessed me, and involuntarily I began to spec- 
ulate upon the possibility of the young mystic's reading 
my mind with the same facility that he did his father's. 
This thought not only disturbed me, but awoke these 
spontaneous reflections within me: "I wonder if he 
knows I don't like him," and, "I wish to heaven he 
would leave me alone with my friend." No sooner did 
these mal-a-propos ideas fill my mind than the Cheva- 
lier arose, and with a flushed face, and for the first 
time during our interview, a furtive smile playing 
around his lips, he bent to me courteously, apologized 
for his indiscretion in obtruding his presence " so long 
on dear friends who must be so very glad to renew their 
old, confidential intercourse with each other," and before 
I could stammer out any protest against his obvious 
interpretation of my secret wishes he was gone. 

The professor, who seemed more at home and like his 
old self when his sprite was gone, laughed outright at 



236 GHOST LAND. 

my confusion, and cried cheerily, w Never mind, John ! 
Louis knew just as well as you did that you wished 
him at the deuce, so of course he retired; but don't let 
that worry you, old fellow. The fact is, this boy feels 
rather than sees or hears what is going on around him; 
but now tell me candidly, what do you think of him? " 

Once again I began to stammer in that ridiculous way 
of mine, when my thoughts are a long way off and want 
collecting, but the professor saved me all further trouble 
by giving me such a complete word-picture of what 
I had actually thought in the Chevalier's presence that T 
started up fairly aghast, and cried, w Come, come, Felix, 
this will never do ! It is bad enough to be obliged to 
say many things we don't always think, but when we 
only think things and don't say them, and yet have them 
all said for us in this remorseless way, 'pon my life ! I 
don't know what is to become of us. Felix, I am getting 
to be fairly afraid of both you and that weird friend of 
yours." 

w Well," replied von Marx, coolly, * if you will ven- 
ture upon the enchanted isle, and place yourself at the 
mercy of a Prospero and Ariel, why you must take the 
consequences; but come now John, let us talk as 
of old, and somewhat more to the purpose. You 
have had great experience as a magnetizer since we met, 
conversed with many of the best and most philosophic 
of Mesmer's followers, both here and on the Continent, 
besides enjoying the opportunity of analyzing the idio- 
syncracies of some hundreds of * sensitives.' Tell me, 
then, what do you think of them as a class?" 

" Felix," I replied, " I will answer you in the words 
of Geiblitz, that fine old writer on mental philosophy, 
whose works you and I used to pore over so constantly 
at W , and whose description of this very class I 



GHOST LAND. 237 

was so enamoured with that I committed several pages 
to memory. Geiblitz says : — 

* ? N~ow, as copper and zinc would not form a galvanic 
battery if the acid which consumes the metals acted on 
both alike, neither would the thunder roll or the light- 
nings flash if the two clouds that met in mid-air were 
equal in force and polarity, one with the other, so would 
there be no exhibition of soul galvanism, or mental light- 
nings, if the body in which they shone was all equili- 
brium, and the person was well composed and evenly 
balanced. Me thinks all history shows us that the ecstatic 
or seer must be an inharmonious being. Something ails 
him which disturbs his balance or sets the measure of 
equilibrium at odds, before he can admit another mind 
to govern him. 

" ? Thus it was with the great fabulist, ^5E3sop, who was 
an idiot in all things but the strong point of allegorical 
composition which, to my mind, was pure inspiration. 
So also with Robert Nixon, the Cheshire prophet, who 
was also foolish, yet subject to that high inspiration 
which prophesied through his lips. Again, with Chet- 
wynd, the fool of the great Saxon monarch, and many 
others, who, although so silly as to be marked with the 
fool's cap and bells, yet when the spirit spoke through 
them, did give utterance to prophecy and wiser things 
than most other men. And if the intellect be well com- 
posed, then must we look to find a lack of balance 
amongst the moral qualities; for example; Cagliostro 
and Kelly, both being great seers and governors of 
spiritual things, were yet knaves. Bohemians, Gypsies, 
and Zingari are all thieves and cheats, yet they know 
the future better than many wise men, and can see 
farther with their soul's eyes than most men with their 
telescopes.' In short, Felix," I continued, seeing that my 



238 GHOST LAND. 

quotations were beginning to be more dangerous than 
apt, " you and I, at a very early period of our investiga- 
tions, came to the conclusion that fine sensitives or high 
magnetic subjects must be unevenly balanced or lack 
equilibrium somewhere. They must be either fools like 
Nixon, and therefore good subjects for the control of 
others, knaves like the Bohemians, and in constant rap- 
port with the elementaries, or sick sensitives like St. 
Bridgetta, St. Catherine, and other saints of great 
renown, who floated in air, bore the stigmata, prophe- 
sied, read every mind, and — and — were, in a word, so 
highly endowed with spiritualistic gifts." 

" How about Jesus of Nazareth, Appolonius of Tyana, 
and Joan of Arc?" said the professor, dryly. "Were 
they fools, knaves, or sick sensitives?" 

"Well," I replied, taken something aback, "Jesus 
was undoubtedly very sensitive, as his susceptibility to 
human suffering and pain demonstrated; Appolonius 
was said to be an epileptic, though I can't vouch for the 
fact; and as to Joan of Arc, we know she was a very 
melancholy young person, remarkably fond of the sound 
of bells in her youth, besides being very pious, which I 
regard as a sign of a morbid temperament, to say the 
least of it." 

"Well, well!" interrupted von Marx, impatiently. 
" Set your brains no more to wool-gathering to find out 
similitudes. My Louis is at once the purest being in 
the world, and endowed with the finest and most com- 
prehensive intellect, but he is just as fragile in phy- 
sique as your argument would need to prove him. But 
for the constant and steady infusion of my magnetism, 
his soul would long since have escaped from so frail 
a tenement as he bears about with him. Will that sat- 
isfy you?" 



GHOST LAND. 239 

w Felix, " I said, looking steadily into my friend's 
troubled eyes, " tell me ; is it a normal or healthful life 
for one human being to live upon the magnetism of 
another? I know it can he done, but is it in the sweet 
and natural order of creation? " 

"No, John," replied my friend, sadly, "it is not, and 
I have often felt it was not. But when do we enter 
upon any new "and untried path and see the end from the 
beginning? When do we determine how far we may 
drift before necessity or some strong impulse forces us 
to stop? I commenced magnetizing this adopted child 
of mine, first, for the sake of continuing my experiments, 
then because I and the Berlin Brotherhood found in him 
a rare and unusual combination of splendid powers. We 
all know that the most passive mentality, or that which 
in ordinary life would be mere imbecility, often supplies 
the best, because the most unsoiled tablet for the inscrip- 
tion of a foreign mental power. We have also proved 
that the same aromal life principle which clusters in excess 
about the cerebellum, and makes its subject sensual, ac- 
quisitive, or destructive, furnishes in many instances the 
potency by which the elementaries and earthy spirits can 
control mortals ; hence we so frequently see • fools and 
knaves endowed with those spiritual gifts which plead for 
the intervention of the daemons, but here we have an excep- 
tion to all such experiences. Here is a being of the noblest 
and least guileful character that ever lived, and yet so in- 
tellectually bright, that he acquires knowledge with magi- 
cal intuition. Ere he had been our subject long, I am well 
convinced if our society had been one of the fanatical kind 
that were likely to be entangled in religious absurdities, 
we should have exalted this boy into a new Messiah, hailed 
him as a tenth incarnation of Vishnu or a modern Buddha. 

"Delighted with my prize, and somehow always asso- 



240 GHOST LAND. 

dating him with that little one whose cot I made with 
these hands, — John, you remember, — I gradually drew 
him away from all other influences than my own. I 
have watched the dawning of his noble 'manhood as 
an astronomer would watch for a new planet. I put 
my life upon him, trained the tendrils of his lonely 
being to cling around me with all the wealth of a 
passionately loving nature concentred on one object. 

"Many a time when the life had nearly ebbed away, 
and the thread which bound him to mortality became 
so attenuated that my earth-dimmed eyes could scarcely 
discover it, by a mighty wrench of will, by the throb- 
bing of my whole heart's love poured out upon him, 
and the vials of my own life drained to supply his, I 
have succeeded in dragging him back to me, keeping 
him alive, and seeing him grow into a spiritual, phys- 
ical, and intellectual beauty that knows no peer on 
earth. John, do you remember the story of the Ger- 
man student, Frankenstein? He made a monster, I an 
angel. His was the story of a myth, mine that of a 
scientific truth. Is there no gain to the cause of science 
in the success of my singular experiment? " The strange 
man paused, wrought up to the most intense pitch of 
emotion, and gazing at me with an almost imploring ex- 
pression, asked, "Have I not cause to love him, John?" 

"Ay," I replied, with equal emotion, "you cannot 
fail to do so ; still you have not answered my question, 
Is such a life as his normal, healthful, right?" 

"No," he answered, firmly, "and never will be 
whilst — " 

"Whilst what?" I asked, eagerly. 

" "Whilst I live," he half whispered ; " but enough of 
this now. I know he is not a creature of earth, but he 
is mine, all my own, the angel side of myself, and I 



GHOST LAND. 241 

will yet think out a bright destiny for him, or wreck 
myself body and soul in the attempt." 

I was subdued, awed, by the depth of this strong man's 
fierce love for the creature he had made, and whilst I was 
not less struck by the obvious return the young man gave 
in his deep and absorbing affection for his adopted father, 
I could not for the life of me realize the angelic excellence 
of which the professor boasted. To me there was some- 
thing wanting in this singular being's nature. He was 
too unsympathetic, too anti-human for an angel; too 
dreamy, exalted, and visionary for a man. I almost felt as 
if he either lacked a soul or was so much of soul that he 
had no business with a body. He was a problem I could 
not solve ; in fact, the whole visit left such an uncomfortable 
feeling upon my mind, that I began to half surmise my dear 
wife was right, and that in meddling with matters too high 
for us, we poor mortals are apt to get out of our depths. 

One thing was certain : a train of speculation in which 
I had been indulging prior to the advent of my friends, 
fell to the ground with a crash. The truth is, I had 
heard that the young heir of the great Professor von 
Marx was of noble birth, wonderfully handsome, and 
altogether a most eligible parti; hence, with what my 
eldest daughter, Sophia, called, my inveterate spirit of 
match-making, I had already got up a little imaginary 
romance between this preux chevalier and a certain 
fair Lady Rosa, a dazzling creature whom I strongly 
affected, and who had always promised to marry only 
just that particular person whom dear Uncle John should 
select. Now, this was not the only lovely creature I 
had destined for my interesting young foreign guest, 
but now, whew! before I quitted the presence of this 
young mystic, or could shake off the remembrance of 
his soul-haunting, far-away-looking dark eyes, I came to 

16 



242 GHOST LAND. 

the conclusion I might as well expect the north star or 
one of the Pleiades to come down and woo the Posies 
and Sophies of fashionable life as this unearthly Chevalier 

de B . With my old habit of putting my reflections 

into shape I mentally exclaimed as I passed down-stairs, 
w I '11 wager that this young fellow has got a spirit 
bride somewhere off in one of the planets. Perhaps he 
might deign to chant a sonnet to a Sylph or serenade an 
Undine; but as to his falling in love with any of the 
pretty butterflies that call me dear papa or darling old 
uncle, pshaw! I'll go and put all the girls on their 
guard against him, or else they will be throwing away 
their hearts upon a streak of moonlight." 

"Have no fear of that, senor; your butterflies are all 
safe from me," said the sweet voice and soft Italian 
accent of the Chevalier, close to my ear. 

Turning round in the entrance-hall hastily to face this 
audacious mind-reader, I encountered — nothing ! Save 
for the Irish porter who held the hall-door open for me, 
not a creature was within sight or hearing. Quitting 
the house with a little more than my ordinary precipita- 
tion, I hurried into the street hoping that in a strong 
current of east wind, I might at least be free to think or 
resolve never to enter that weird house again, unless 
indeed, I could leave my thoughts at home, or in some 
distant scene which the wizard's spell could not reach. 

That afternoon, having retired to my library, and ac- 
cording to custom being about to compose myself to take 
half an hour's siesta before dressing for dinner, I was 
startled by the noiseless opening of the door, which, by 
the by, I generally locked on such occasions. Looking 
up in surprise, it being against the rule of that charmed 
scene even for my own daughters to enter without knock- 
ing at the door, I beheld, in a maze of astonishment 



GHOST LAND. 243 

which kept me speechless, the } 7 oung Chevalier de B . 

1 Speaking in an earnest, pleading tone, which somehow 
filled my eyes with an irrepressible moisture, he said, 
"Dear sir, there are some beings on earth who are 
" v not yet born into actual humanity. It requires for them 
a great change, most commonly a great sorrow, to effect 
that new birth in which the true union between body 
and soul takes place. One man may know many births 
and deaths in the course of a single life pilgrimage, and 
I am one of those who must be born again, conceived 
in sorrow and born through great anguish, before I can 
be really the man my too fond father deems me. To be 
a man I must be endowed with the passions of one, — 
with vices as well as virtues, and criminal as well as 
noble tendencies. As yet, the humanity which makes a 
full-grown soul is lacking in me, and I am not good, 
because I am not bad; not virtuous, pure, or noble, be- 
cause I have no opposite propensities to rise above. My 
poor father has not created an angel, only endowed this 
frail form with a spiritual essence which yet lacks parts 
and passions. But O dear sir ! the hour approaches when 
I shall be born again through a maternity of great sorrow. 
In that hour I shall stand in direst need of a human friend 
and helper: will you not be that friend? The world of 
spirits pleads with you for me, their child and servant." 
At the conclusion of this extraordinary speech, every 
syllable of which seems to me to have been indelibly 
engraven on the tablets of my memory, he extended 
his hand towards me. As I was about to grasp 
it, my eye was arrested by the sight of the word 
Isabella inscribed in finely-formed, crimson letters 
across the palm of his small, white hand. This was the 
name of my deeply-cherished and long-lamented dear 
mother. I had often prayed that if the soul was immor- 



244 GHOST LAND. 

tal, could live, love, and know those they had left on 
earth, especially if they could minister to them, this most * 
tender mother might be permitted to give me some sign 
which should convince me of the stupendous fact of her 
immortal being. No response had ever before been 
vouchsafed to my soul's deep aspiration, but even as I 
gazed on that familiar name, and saw the letters melt or 
fade slowly away in the outstretched hand before me, 
the thought was irresistibly borne in npon my mind 
that here was the proof I sought. I have since, during 
the modern dispensation of Spiritualism, seen many a 
name of the beloved ones gone before, inscribed in fleshly 
characters npon a medium's body. I had heard of such 
stigmata appearing amongst my friends the French 
magnetists, but never had I witnessed aught so wonder- 
ful, anght that took so deep a hold npon my inmost 
convictions of spiritual identity before. As the letters 
faded, I rubbed my eyes, started, rubbed them again, and 
with my characteristic slowness was about to seize the 
young man's hand, and make a speech, assuring him of 
my eternal friendship and devotion to him, under what- 
ever circumstances he might command it, when lo ! he 
was gone. I rushed to the only door in the room, and 
fonnd it locked on the inside just as I had left it. 

Returning to my library table I found a volume of 
Shakespeare unclasped ; open at the play of w The Tem- 
pest," a leaf turned down, — a liberty I never allowed 
with my books, — and a deep pencil-mark drawn under- 
neath these lines of the fair Miranda's : — 

" Believe me, sir, it carries a brave form, — but 'tis a spirit." 

And thus began our campaign with the Prospero and 
Ariel of the nineteenth century, Felix von Marx and his 
adopted son, the Chevalier de B . 



CHAPTEE Xm. 

DIARY OP JOHN CAVENDISH DUDLEY, ESQ., CONTINUED. 

February 10, 18 . On looking over the fragmen- 
tary entries that my diary presents during the last few 
months, I am painfully conscious that the records are 
not of a sufficiently consecutive character to weave into 
the body of this narrative, at least not without more 
revision than I have now time or opportunity to bestow 
on them. During these eventful months there has been 
so much that has been new and marvellous to us all; 
even we, who have been accustomed to witness the exhi- 
bitions of abnormal spiritual powers through our clair- 
voyants and somnambulists, as well as at our magical 
seances, have been so startled at the extraordinary 
phenomena introduced amongst us by our German 
friends, that we seem to have commenced a new era in 
our experiences, and I feel the necessity of recording 
our testimony with more than usual care and caution. 
Strange rumors too are abroad that new and wonder- 
ful disclosures are being made to mortals amongst the 
matter-of-fact, commercial Americans, and by what can 
we suppose? Actually, it is affirmed by spirits in per- 
son! spirits of the dead, or rather the spirits of those 
the world calls dead, who, so say these floating rumors 
of a waking " Arabian Night's Dream," are not dead at 
all, but alive, and as inhabitants of a progressed world, 
have found a way to telegraph to the friends they have 



246 GHOST LAND. 

left as bereaved mourners, assuring them they are all in 
life, in the full possession of their faculties ; see us, know 
us, love us still, and come into communication with us by 
sounds and signals that they find the means of making, 
through those very persons who were formerly our 
somnambulists, seers, and mesmeric subjects. 

May not this be the secret of the young Chevalier's 
wonderful and abnormal surroundings? He and his 
father claim that all we see and hear is the work of the 
elementaries whom they command, and planetary angels 
who attend upon them and signal to them through this 
youth's trances and the professor's magical power over 
spirits. 

We are all lost in conjecture. Whatever be the new 
dispensation dawning upon us, if something still more 
potent than magnetism, still more occult than somnam- 
bulism, be at hand to startle us from our dreams of 
earth and earthly things, then must this magical 
friend of mine and his strange companion be its her- 
alds. For my part I can not see whither we are drifting, 
scarcely can I discern my way amongst the scenes of 
mystery that are now deepening around me. Professor 
von Marx is very jealous of his young seer's gifts. He 
himself is reticent and fearfully sensitive. The won- 
derful powers these men possess should be at the com- 
mand of science, yet they are all limited to -our most 
secret sessions, and scenes which, if reported, would 
scarcely obtain credit, even with those who best know 
and trust me, are permitted to pass by like the phantas- 
magoria of an unquiet dream with hardly a record. 
How true it is that the greatest gifts seldom accompany 
the best dispositions to use them ! 

These German magicians, whose impulses are as 
erratic as the visions that they produce, have now been 



GHOST LAND. 247 

absent some months. They left us as suddenly as they 
came ; their purpose was to travel through North Brit- 
ain, as I understood, but now I learn that after making 
some visits among our associates in Scotland and Wales 
tliey have disappeared altogether. 

February 25. Letters have been received from 
Professor von Marx. He is coming back to London 
for a few days, and sends me word he wishes to join our 
next meeting of the Orphic Society on Friday night. 
How did he know we had called a special seance for 
Friday night? but pshaw! why do I question? He 
knows everything, and what he doesn't know the Chev- 
alier can tell him. ISo matter, he will be dearly wel- 
come to us all. He leaves his son in the North, he 
writes me word, rusticating in a quiet village for the 
benefit of his health. Of course they won't stay long 
apart; however, I will now go to his lodgings and find 
out when to expect him. 

March 3. Professor von Marx has now been with us 
nearly a week. He attended one seance at the Orphic 
Circle on the evening of his arrival, and by desire of 
our guardian spirits, we are to have another session 
to-night. Great results are promised us, but, I scarce 
know why, there is a singular depression on my spirits, 
and one which seems in a measure to affect our whole 
society. Let us hope that the to-night's seance will 
serve to disperse the clouds. 

MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE ORPHIC CIRCLE HELD 

MARCH 3. 

Present the usual number of members and officers, 
the neophytes , Fstelle, Sarina, and Marcus, two Mothers 
from Malta, and one honorary member, Professor Felix 
von Marx. John C. Dudley, Recording Secretary. 



248 GHOST LAND. 

After the customary preliminaries of opening our ses- 
sion, and the business arrangements had been disposed 
of, it was announced that this was an "open meeting"; 
at which visitors might be introduced, whilst the pro- 
ceedings should be subject to general discussion, or if 
desirable to publication. [I may here state that our 
society was a private, if not absolutely a secret one, 
hence our sessions were only canvassed openly, or the 
phenomena occurring therein reported beyond our lodge- 
room, when we received intimation from our guardians 
(planetary angels) that the meetings were to be c? open 
ones." The seance called for the 3d of March, and 
one which was announced to follow, were to come under 
this category and be open to reports of what might 
transpire.] Considering the high expectations with 
which we had come together that evening, our session 
was less animated than we had anticipated. Professor 
von Marx was unusually sad and abstracted. 

Amongst other subjects, we discussed reservedly, but 
somewhat pointedly, the reflex action likely to be pro- 
duced upon a magnetizer by his subject. "We were led 
to consider this subject all the more earnestly, by the 
obvious depression and restlessness manifested in Pro- 
fessor von Marx's manner in the absence of his beloved 

protege, the Chevalier de B . The professor took the 

ground that no such reflex action could ensue if the 
operator was w^ell-composed and self-centred. Lord 

L and Sir Peter S were in favor of the reflex 

hypothesis, and I cited the professor's own change of 
manner and deep anxiety, now that he was absent from 
his best subject, in contrast with his invariable compo- 
sure and self-possession when, as in earlier visits, his 
friend was present with him at our circle. Von Marx 
acknowledged the disturbing effect of the Chevalier's 



GHOST LAND. 249 

absence upon his mind, but added in a tone of stern 
self-reproach, that it was ever a failing in the true adept 
to cherish human affection, and that the intense emotion 
which was expended on personal interests, always marred 
the procedures of deliberate science. 

Our experiments with the neophytes on this occasion 
were less satisfactory than usual, and they evidently felt 
the oppression cast by the overpowering influence of 
the professor's disturbed mind. We exchanged greet- 
ings successfully with the circle at L , and neophyte 

x\lexander's w atmospheric spirit" visited us from M . 

We had some interesting visions in the mirror, but 
the crystal spirits could not obtain force enough to 
appear. At the usual hour, when our "Rulers" were 
accustomed to give us some spontaneous phenomena by 
way of climax to our meeting, we asked, through our best 

lucide present, Mile. Estelle, if the Chevalier de B 

could not visit us. Starting hastily from his seat, and 
speaking in violation of our usual order, the professor 
exclaimed, w "No, no ! I would not have it so, — that is 
— I beg pardon of all present, but- 1 would prefer to 
waive this visit." 

Instantly the lucide became demagnetized, the "Ru- 
lers" vanished from the mirrors, and the lights became 
quite dim, the fires, sunk in the braziers, and the whole 
scene bore testhnony to our visitor's indiscretion. 

Recovering his composure in a few minutes, the pro- 
fessor apologized for his irregular action, and reluctantly 
assented to our wishes. The formulae, which I am not 
at liberty to describe, by which an K atmospheric spirit " 
or " flying soul " is summoned, being gone through, the 
professor produced, as if by a strong effort, a piece of 
a waving lock of black hair cut from his beloved pupil's 
head, and with still more hesitancy than usual, submitted 



250 GHOST LAND. 

it to the fire of the brazier. As the leaping flame 
seized on the beautiful lock, von Marx, as if repenting 
such a sacrifice, drew it hastily away. A small portion 
of the crisped hair however, adhered to the brazier, but 
no sound of invocation moved the magician's lips. The 
Lights were again sinking, and the neophytes shrank 
back, trembling and disturbed, when a blast of cold 
air rushed through the apartment, a deep-drawn sigh 
resounded in our ears, and the lights flashed up for a 
moment disclosing what seemed to be the form of the 

Chevalier de B extended on a visionary couch, 

apparently in a deep sleep. It was the first time the 
apparition of a slumbering "flying soul" had been 
amongst us, and as the Chevalier had often thus spirit- 
ually visited and communicated with us before, we 
attributed his present entrancement to the professor's 
failure in fulfilling the conditions of evocation. Yet 
we all beheld him plainly, and sympathized with the 
professor as he bent over his adopted son's form with 
apparent sentiments of rapt interest and admiration. 

" Waken him ! " whispered Sir Peter S . K We 

would speak with him." 

w Not for worlds ! " murmured the professor, extend- 
ing his arms towards the vision. " He will waken all too 
soon. Sleep on, my Louis, and — farewell ! " 

In an instant a strange, distant cry seemed to resound 
through the apartment, and the form of the sleeper 
started up and seemed to cast itself into the professor's 
arms. Something of an indescribable character that I 
have never seen or realized in any other presence than 
that of these Germans, then seemed to cast a spell over 
us all, preventing us for the moment, from seeing, hear- 
ing, or collecting our thoughts. It has often been re- 
peated in the presence of the Chevalier de B , 



GHOST LAND, 251 

and is the nearest approach to my idea of * glamour " 
or that which the Hindoos have a word for signifying 
illusion, I ever experienced. It lasts but a few seconds, 
and on the occasion I write of, came and went like the 
lightning's flash. When it was dispelled, the couch, the 
" flying soul," and the professor himself were all gone. 
Nothing could restore composure to our lucicles after 
this, and our circle broke up after arranging with our 
guides to meet again on the following night. Lord 

L was instructed to notify the absent members, also 

to invite Professor von Marx's special attendance, he 
having promised to be present at our next seance. 

How shall I record the events which immediately 
succeeded my last entry, or attempt to hand down to 
posterity statements so entirely out of ordinary human 
experience that I could scarcely hope to obtain credit for 
them did I testify to their truth on solemn oath before the 
world? Although at the present time modern spiritual- 
ism, with its array of well-attested marvels, has become 
a fixed fact, and at the time when these lines will meet 
the public eye, the details I record will have become the 
accepted belief of millions, still the circumstances which 
surround my narrative present an air of incredibility, 
which the matter-of-fact, commonplace methods of the 
Spiritualists are wholly lacking in. I write of appa- 
ritions, phantoms, sounds, and motions which appealed 
to unaccustomed witnesses ; came upon us with all the 
awful paraphernalia of magical surroundings, and at a 
period when our hearts were possessed with an over- 
whelming dread of revelations from the world of spirit- 
ual existence. The Spiritualists now meet in jolly par- 
ties, and hail their spiritual visitants with fun and frolic, 
hence the very same manifestations which custom has 
invested with the prestige of a fashionable amusement 



252 GHOST LAND. 

were, in the time of 'which I write, surrounded with a 
halo of preternatural light, borrowed in part from the 
occult reputation of supernaturalism, but still more 
colored by the stupendous interests and heart-felt sym- 
pathies which were awakened in our spiritual seances. 
Bear with me, then, my readers, whilst I relate to you 
a scene whose weird horrors would now be received 
calmly and with the same meed of applause which you 
would bestow on a successful operatic performance, but 
which, at the time of its occurrence, excited such terror 
and deep agitation in every witness's mind that nothing 
that has ever occurred since has sufficed to efface its 
terrible memories. 

Let me recite the narrative from the ordinary extracts 
in my diary, which read as follows : — 

March 5. Meeting in session and duly inaugurated. 
Present : twenty members, all our officers, and the four 
Lucides of the month. 

One hour passed away after the opening of the ses- 
sion, but Professor von Marx did not appear. At 10 
p. m. our Lucides, without a word exchanged, and as if 
by a concert of action, rose and assumed their places at 
the four quarters of the lodge as if we were not in open 
but secret session. All four were deeply entranced. 
Soon after this movement, they sang a sweet and exqui- 
site improvisation, at the close of which they joined in 
a well-known hymn, their fine voices attuned to such a 
pure and rich harmony, that every heart present felt its 
resistless spell. It was not until the singers had ceased, 
that we perceived, by the dim light of the four altar 
lamps, Professor Marx was amongst us. He had entered 
noiselessly and unseen by any one ; in fact, how he had 
entered was a mystery, the seance being conducted 
with doors locked and guarded. The professor had 



GHOST LAND. 253 

not taken his usual place amongst the members, but 
stationed himself in one of the seats assigned to visi- 
tors, although there were none admitted that evening. 

Before we had time to greet him or remark upon the 
suddenness of his appearance, he addressed us, speaking 
in a singular, far-off tone of voice, which affected every 
listener with an indescribable sense of awe. His words 
were, as far as I can remember, to this effect : w My time 
is short, my power to address you limited. My beloved 
one is in fearful peril. Summon him not, nor inquire 
Ms fate for nine days. "When that time expires, I will 
come again and direct you what to do. I have fear- 
fully wronged him, and it is for you, John Dudley, to 
help me make reparation. I have tampered all too pre- 
sumptuously with the sacred forces of a human soul, and 
ere I can find peace or rest, I must redeem my error. 
Aid me!" He paused, yet a spell was on us all so 
strong, that not a creature moved or a voice replied. 

As for me, my tongue clove to the roof of my mouth. 
A nameless horror possessed me, and though I looked 
fixedly at the speaker, and could trace distinctly, even 
in that dim light, every line of his pale and anxious face, 
my eyes seemed blighted, and I would have given much 
for the power to turn them away and fix on them some 
other object. As he paused, he bent his eyes upon me, 
and so pleading, wistful, and yet piercing became their 
expression, that I felt as if I could not endure that glance 
another moment, when lo ! he slowly melted out before 
us into thin air. As he disappeared, the room shook vio- 
lently, every object rocked as in an earthquake ; the lights 
flamed up, then sank, and seemed on the point of expir- 
ing; deep sighs, and one or two low moans resounded 
through the apartment ; the air was suffocating. " Great 
Heaven! what is all this?" cried one of the members. 



254 GHOST LAND. 

* Let me be gone ; I cannot stay in this dreadful place ! " 
said another. In a moment there was a general move- 
ment towards the entrances ; the veils were thrown aside, 
and the whole of the party were hurrying back and forth 
through the room with restless and irrepressible agita- 
tion. 

"Whilst I sat in my place staring vacantly at the spot 
from whence the w atmospheric spirit " — as we deemed 
the apparition to have been — had disappeared, one of our 
lucides, in her natural tone, said hurriedly, shaking me 
by the arm at the same time, K Mr. Dudley, Mr. Dudley, 
arouse yourself ! That was no c flying soul,' but Profes- 
sor von Marx's spirit. For Heaven's sake, hasten to the 
professor's lodgings, though I fear me it is too late. He 
is dead! I feel sure he is dead, and the poor young 
Chevalier is abandoned." 

March 6. Yes, Professor von Marx is dead! Our 
circle broke up and dispersed immediately after the 
scene last recorded, and accompanied by our president, 
the venerable Lord V , I hastened off to the pro- 
fessor's lodgings, which were at a considerable distance 
from my residence; in fact, close down by the river 
side. It occupied some time before my servants could 
be summoned, my carriage brought round, and Lord 

V and myself set down at the old mansion which 

my friend had selected as the retreat of himself and his 
adopted son. 

It was near midnight then, when we reached the 
house, but we found the domestics all up and in the 
utmost perplexity and consternation. The professor 
had desired to be called at six o'clock that evening to 
dress for dinner, but when his valet reached him in ful- 
filment of his orders, he found him cold and rigid, as if 
he had been dead some hours. Medical aid had been 



GHOST LAND. 255 

summoned in vain. The proprietor of the house had 
despatched messengers to me, but as I had been dining 
out, and was subsequently engaged at our lodge, I could 
not be found, and there was no means of apprising me 
of the fact save through the extraordinary apparition 
which we had so recently witnessed. w Apoplexy," 
"heart disease," etc. etc., these were the medical ver- 
dicts on a case which none could understand and no 
science account for. 

March 10. My position is becoming most embar- 
rassing. The people with whom Professor von Marx 
lodged, inform me the poor young Chevalier arrived 
the night after his father died, and passed up the stairs 
without speaking a word to any one. How long he re- 
mained they cannot tell, but in the morning they found 
he had left the house and gone no one knows whither. 
It is a mystery to us all to discover how he heard of his 
friend's decease. I had despatched special messengers 
to him with the sad tidings, but they could not have 
reached him before the very night when he appeared 
in London. Taking into account all the mysteries by 
which we are surrounded, I don't feel at all sure that 
the individual seen was really the Chevalier in person. 
How do we know but what it might have been only his 
w atmospheric spirit," or what the Germans call the 
Dbjppel Ganger? 

For my part I am so bewildered with the attempt to 
find my way amidst these dark and occult paths, that 
I become lost, and uncertain how far we are justified in 
lifting the awful veil which divides the realms of spirit 
and matter. Half my time I know not by what or whom 
I am surrounded, or how to discriminate between the 
real and the phantom people that flash before my eyes. 

Remembering the mysterious charge we have re- 



256 GHOST LAND. 

ceived, I dare not seek for this poor young man 
before the prescribed nine days elapse, and yet I am 
filled with the deepest anxiety on his account, and long 
to tender him the consolations of friendship and sympa- 
thy. More difficulties yet beset me. Professor von 
Marx has left his entire property to his adopted son, and 
named me as his guardian and trustee. His will is clear 
and lucid, and was evidently made for the hour, suiting 
so well the present crisis that it would seem as if he had 
foreseen and provided for the very moment of his decease. 
March 11. ~No tidings yet of the Chevalier, and the 
singular emphasis with which the apparition demanded 
a nine days' suspension of all inquiry, paralyzes any 
attempt on my part to discover what has become of 
him, yet my business advisers urge me to seek out the 
young heir without loss of time, and my best friends 
begin to wonder why I take no steps in this direction. 
Urgent advice and suggestions to "act promptly" pour 
in upon me from all quarters, and even my servants are 
regarding me with furtive and suspicious glances. I 
suppose every one will soon begin to set me down as 
crazy, — an opinion that I shall not, I fear, be very unde- 
serving of, unless something occurs to relieve my mind 
from the terrible anxiety that now possesses it. The 
hardest task I have yet had to encounter is to resist 
the pleadings of my dear wife and children, who con- 
stantly urge me to institute inquiries for the missing 
heir, whom, they persist in believing, has been " made 
away with," through the same magical arts that have 
(as they allege) destroyed the unfortunate professor. 
It would be in vain for me to attempt combating such 
an opinion, absurd as it appears; equally impossible for 
me to explain why I am determined to commence no 
search until after the nine days have expired. 



GHOST LAND. 257 

We have called two special meetings of the Orphic 
Circle, but alas! the visions seem to be closed. Our 
somnambules are themselves so much disturbed and 
their minds so agitated by the prevailing excitement, 
that they are unable to come into those conditions of 
passivity necessary to procure reliable visions. They 
all seem to concur in the opinion, however, that the 
Chevalier is still living, and destined, as they predict, to 
grow out of his present semi-earthly condition and 
attain to a high and noble manhood. 

March 15. This night completes the prescribed sea- 
son of inactivity, and at 10 p. m. the Orphic Circle will 
meet to advise with, whatever powers may be pleased 
to attend us, upon the necessary steps to be taken for 
the discovery of our unfortunate young friend. Amidst 
all manner of annoyances, estranged looks, covert re- 
proaches, and open rebukes, I have faithfully adhered 
to the commands of the mysterious phantom and ab- 
stained from all attempts to discover the Chevalier's 
retreat. I only know that he left his country retirement 
and appeared at his former residence in London. At 
neither place have any tidings been heard of him since ; 
and his unaccountable absence from the funeral of his 
adopted father, which we delayed until yesterday, leaves 
us no longer a shadow of hope that he will voluntarily 
appear amongst us. 

To-night, the ninth since the apparition of Professor 
von Marx at our circle, must decide how far we can 
look for help from the invisible world; if that fails us, 
to-morrow's dawn will see me surrounded with every 
instrumentality that human effort can afford, to make 
our search successful. 

Many days have elapsed since I made my last entry, 
but the events that have crowded so thickly upon me 

17 



258 GHOST LAND. 

have prevented my fulfilment of that which has now 
"become to me a solemn life duty, namely, to record as 
plainly and truthfully as language can set forth the 
facts of spiritual intervention in human affairs, and to 
draw the mysterious and awful veil which has hitherto 
shrouded those realms of power and influence, from 
which the invisible springs of human action mainly 
proceed. 

On the night of March 15 our session commenced at 
9 p. m., and our lodge was opened with the usual for- 
malities. Our four neophytes were stationed by the' 
altars, each with the mirror and crystal appropriate to 
the time. The four lamps which sufficed to dispel the 
darkness of the lodge were lighted, the braziers duly 
served, and the fumigations carefully attended to. After 
the opening hymns had been sung and the invocations 
commenced, the lamps began to flicker with the usual 
unsteady motion which indicates responses from the 
spirits summoned, and in a short time they went out 
one after another, leaving the room only faintly illumi- 
nated by the colored fires from the braziers. 

Around the central altar we now perceived that the 
crystals were beginning to be covered by bright confis- 
cations of sparkling light. "With sensations of un- 
wonted awe and breathless interest, we noticed also, 
that small tongues of flame and globes of pale light 
loomed through the darkness at different parts of the 
hall, sailing around, and gradually disappearing near the 
altar. At length we observed that the whole apartment 
was becoming lighter and lighter. 

From whatever source the illumination proceeded, it 
completely overpowered the light of the braziers, until 
it gradually filled the whole place with a soft, hazy twi- 
light. Then it was that we discovered around the cen- 



GHOST LAND, 259 

tral altar, a circle of crouching, dark forms, who, with 
veiled heads and misty robes, seemed to be supported 
on seats faintly outlined, and stretching away, row after 
row and circle after circle, until they reached from the 
first or inner circle, up to the remotest portion of the 
roof, completely filling our vast lodge-room and ascend- 
ing as it seemed even beyond the roof, in the form of 
an ancient Roman amphitheatre. This spectral com- 
pany, although clearly outlined in the mysterious twi- 
light of the room, obscured but did not conceal the 
other persons or material objects present, which shone 
through them as if they had been merely shadows. 

I find on comparing notes with the other members of 
the circle, the appearances I have thus briefly described 
were realized by all pretty much alike. Let it be remem- 
bered, however, that what I have attempted to depict in 
cold, matter-of-fact language, can never be thoroughly 
realized except by the awe-struck witnesses, nor could 
any word-painting, however vivid, do justice to the 
tremendous and harrowing impressions produced on 
every mind by the presence of this immense company 
of formless, nameless shadows. I might live for cen- 
turies ere the memory of that solemn and terrific scene 
could be obliterated; I might behold death and car- 
nage, the red battle-field, or mortal catastrophe in its 
direst form, yet nothing could ever equal the insupport- 
able horror of that phantom gathering. I recall it now, 
with sentiments of dismay which no time has served to 
dhninish. Presently, in the midst of the awful stillness, 
there came a sudden movement amongst the spectral 
forms ; with one accord they all rose to their feet, and 
as they did so, a soughing, sighing sound filled the apart- 
ment, like the uprising of a vast multitude, accompa- 
nied by the rushing of a mighty wind. It was evident 



260 GHOST LAND. 

that something or somebody had come into their midst, 
whom these shrouded phantoms rose to receive. Dur- 
ing* what ensued, they all remained erect and motionless, 
yet still dimly visible in the peculiar and unearthly glare 
that illumined the lodge. Then, without perceiving any 
other form or realizing who spoke, except from the tone 
and substance of what follows, a voice, which all present 
recognized as that of Felix von Marx, speaking from the 
circle of braziers which surrounded the central altar, 
addressed us thus: — 

"My Louis is dead; he lies in the wood by the side 
of the river on the road to which I will direct you 
through Estelle, and from whence you, John Dudley, 
must bring him to your home. Take him to your heart, 
and do your duty by him as a man, a friend, a father. 
Your course towards him will be inspired, and all your 
actions guided by those who have his soul in charge. 
They will give you the daily bread of wisdom so long 
as he tarries with you. In the life that has passed for 
him, for me, I have greatly wronged him, — filled his 
soul with mine, clothed his spirit in my own, consumed, 
absorbed, and killed him. His spirit has fled in yearn- 
ing after mine, but during the dread hour of mortal 
death, the Father of spirits has permitted his angels to 
repair the mighty wrong, allowed his soul to gain 
another birth, struggle into a new life, attain another 
being; moulded anew by pain and anguish, the crushed 
germ of his new-born soul has been revived by pitying 
angels. The body sleeps now, but the spirit hovers 
near, upborne in the hands of ministering spirits, who 
weave afresh the vital cord that binds him to mortal 
life, and when you have rescued the suffering frame 
from its grassy death-bed, the reunion of the new-born 
soul with its earthly tenement will be effected. Rescued 



GHOST LAND. 261 

to be a revelator" in the new dispensation, spared to take 
his place as a builder in the temple of the new religion, 
his real life-work must begin under your fatherhood, 
John Dudley; and the Lord and Master of life, the 
Father of all, do so to you, and more also, as you do to 
him, my victim and my child. Now speed away, and 
hasten! hasten! " 

The voice ceased, or rather the last accents seemed 
to die off in a prolonged and singular wail, hushed by 
the soughing sound before described, as if the vast con- 
course of moving phantoms were about to resume their 
crouching attitudes, but no, they sank down, down, 
with a long, subsiding sigh, until they melted into the 
ground beneath our feet. The lights streamed up from 
the braziers ; the veils of separation and banners that 
floated from the walls stirred and waved as if moved 
by a strong wind; sweet odors streamed for a moment 
through the room; a few distant chords of music rang 
through the air, then all was still, and everything re- 
sumed its place and aspect, as if the whole past scene 
had been nothing but an unquiet dream. 

By the time the hour of midnight had sounded 
from the city clocks, Estelle, our best clairvoyant, 

Lord \ , and myself were seated in my barouche, 

with four of my best horses in harness. The night was 
wild and threatening. Heavy banks of clouds from 
time to time obscured the moon and cast their murky 
shadows across the path which our flying horses trav- 
ersed. Our clairvoyant, in a deep magnetic trance, 
directed our path at every turn in the, road. I myself 
sat on the box and drove, Estelle being placed by my 
side, two outriders following, to render such service as 
we might require. We traversed Hampstead Heath, 
and guided ever by our admirable somnambulist, we 



262 GHOST LAND. 

struck off several times from the direct road, until 
towards morning, after five hours' ride, pursued with- 
out pause or interruption, we reached the banks of a 
deep and sullen river, and began to near the outskirts 
of an extensive wood. 

So frequent had been the divergencies we made under 
our somnambulist's direction, that I had lost all track of 
the road we pursued, and the spot we had now reached 
was entirely strange to me. On gaining the point in 
question, Estelle gave me a peremptory sign to stop, 
and for a few moments her attitude of breathless silence 
induced me to fear she was losing the mysterious thread 
of influence that had guided us thus far. My doubts 
were soon dispelled however, and a new-born hope set 
my heart wildly throbbing, as the young girl hurriedly 
bade us alight and give our carriage and horses in charge 
of the grooms, who were to wait for further orders. Then 
crying, " Follow me ! " she sprang forward into the wood, 
moving with a pace so swift and a step so light, that 

it was with the utmost difficulty Lord Y and myself 

could track her through the darkness by her white gar- 
ments. As we advanced, struggling painfully forward 
amidst the tangled underbrush and overhanging boughs 
of half-fallen trees, we saw a distant light sailing 
through the air and descending towards the ground, 
where it seemed to hover for a few seconds, then sunk 
rapidly and became extinguished. At the same moment 
a cry from Estelle warned us to quicken our pace, and 
obeying the impatient waving of her white handkerchief, 
we stumbled and groped our way on until we reached 
the edge of a ravine, at the side of which, a few steps 
below the path, we found Estelle, awake, in her normal 
state, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, kneel- 
ing on the ground beside the cold and lifeless form of 



GHOST LAND. 263 

him we came to seek. His garments drenched with rain, 
whiter than snow, with staring, open eyes fixed in the 
aw fnl glare of death on the silent stars, with stiff, thin 
hands clutching as if in agony, masses of earth and 
tip-torn grass, — there lay the piteous form of the once 
beautiful and highly-gifted heir of the great Professor 
von Marx. 

Speculation was idle ; pity gave place to rapid action, 
sympathy and grief to quick resolve. Raising the dead 
form, for such it appeared to be, in my arms, with Lord 

V 's help I carried him from the dreary wood to the 

carriage, and ere noon of the day which was just then 
dawning, I placed him beneath the shelter of my own 
roof. I brought back to my anxious wife and children 
a sad and piteous spectacle 't is true, a mere skeleton, 
with scarcely a shadow of the brilliant grace and beauty 
that had once distinguished him; but I knew the invis- 
ible powers that had rescued him could restore the life 
they had so miraculously saved. I knew that the future 
called him, and the hand of waiting destiny could 
raise him from the very bier. I was neither surprised 
nor excited, therefore, when the physicians I had sum- 
moned, reported that the faint fluttering of the still 
throbbing heart, gave promise that my cares and anxie- 
ties would yet be rewarded, and Professor von Marx's 
solemn trust of fatherhood had not been bequeathed to 
me in vain. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

DIAKY OF JOHN CAVENDISH DUDLEY, ESQ., CONTINUED. 

May 18, 18 . Many weeks elapsed before I had 
an opportunity of making another entry in my diary. 
Meantime spring had almost ripened into summer, and 
the ward in whom I had become so strangely and in- 
voluntarily interested, was restored to life and partial 
strength, and at the request of my pitying wife and 
daughters, became established as an inmate of my own 
home. These dear members of my family, although un- 
yielding in their prejudices against my "magical prac- 
tices," had always manifested a deep interest in the 

young Chevalier de B ; in fact, they had so won 

upon his reticent nature by their kind and womanly at- 
tentions, that he was completely familiarized amongst 
them, and proved an ever-welcome visitor in my wife's 
salon. His high intellectual culture, passionate love of 
music, exquisite voice, and skilful performance on sev- 
eral instruments of music, completed the charm with 
which nature had endowed him, and few persons could 
have supposed that there was any subject of divided 
opinion between the ladies of my household and their 
fascinating visitor. 

On the sad day when I brought the wasted form of 
their favorite to rest for a while beneath my roof, my 
wife insisted upon his being given up to her tender care. 
The time came at last, however, when this gentle nurse, 



GHOST LAND. 265 

no less than all his other attendants, myself included, 
began to regard his convalescence with a mixture of 
equal astonishment and perplexity. 

We could not disguise from ourselves the startling 
fact, that the unfortunate Chevalier, whilst regaining his 
usual composure and lucidity of manner, had obviously 
lost sight of his own identity. That his external ap- 
pearance should long retain traces of the terrible suffer- 
ings he had undergone was naturally to be expected; 
but the look of mature age which overspread his hag- 
gard face and worn form, did not pass away with 
returning strength. 

Although little more than twenty years of age, he might 
have been taken for a man of forty. His voice, naturally 
sweet and melodious, assumed a deeper tone, and his 
accent, strongly marked by his mother's native Italian, 
now betrayed the same German intonation peculiar to 
his adopted father's. Day by day some fresh token of 
a wandering mind, fixing itself into the very self-same 
grooves of identity that had distinguished Professor 
von Marx, became more and more strikingly apparent. 
He would frequently perplex his kind nurses by entreat- 
ing them to tell him where Louis was, and why he had 
deserted his unfortunate father now that he was so weak 
and helpless. At times he would startle me with the 
same supplication, always addressing me as his " dear 
old friend John," and speaking of himself as if he had 
been the real Felix von Marx. Sometimes he would ask 
whether there was no letter yet from Louis, and specu- 
late, with an anxiety distressing to witness, on the causes 
which prevented his hearing from him. 

I was greatly embarrassed how to answer him, but he 
would generally save me the trouble by running off from 
the subject in his wandering way, saying, "I know I 



266 GHOST LAND. 

have been very ill, distraught I believe in my mind, 
but I am nearly well now and able to understand all you 
may have to say to me. Tell me then, about my darling. 

You know I left him at K , and thought to have 

joined him just as I was taken ill. How long is it since 
then? Tell me, John!" I would commonly answer him 
in the same strain, saying, Louis had gone on a visit 

to our mutual friend Lord V , and that he had only 

been ill a week or two. Louis would soon return, etc. 
etc. Sometimes these stereotyped replies would quite 
satisfy him, though repeated many times a week; at 
others he would try to think, and murmur dreamily, 
' ? I thought it was a very long time ago and that I had 
been travelling through many strange countries, of 
which I have no distinct recollection." As time wore on, 
the impression that he was Felix von Marx deepened 
upon him, but the strangest part of all was, not alone 
his perfect assumption of all the professor's peculiar 
traits of character, but his entire renunciation of all 
ideas and habits which had formerly distinguished him- 
self. The Chevalier's accomplishment in and love of 
music gave place to the professor's indifference, amount- 
ing to dislike of the art. Even the sweet voices of my 
daughters, which the young man had been accustomed 
to join, and listen to with rapt delight, now displeased 
him, and he would hastily quit the room when they began 
to sing. He would accompany us in riding or driving 
as far as his feeble strength permitted, but he shrank 
away with dislike, almost fear, from the presence of 
strangers or visitors, and desired only to spend his time 
in solitude and deep abstraction. He frequently spoke 
n of his intention to go and seek Louis, but he seemed 
unable to fix his mind upon a permanent idea, and 
was easily persuaded that the same week or two since 



GHOST LAND. 267 

he had been taken ill, was all that had elapsed, and that 
Louis was coining home to-morrow or next day. As if 
to compensate me for the deep anxiety I suffered on my 
poor ward's account, a change arose in the feelings of 
my family which brought me unmitigated satisfaction. 

The strange tidings from America about the marvels 
of spirit communion, came faster and thicker, and won- 
derful narratives were in circulation, concerning the 
system of telegraphy by which the world of spirits 
was bringing assurance of their continued existence 
to the minds of their earthly friends. Although the 
report of these marvels formed a prominent theme of 
discussion at many a fashionable assemblage and 
amongst our numerous visitors, I never promoted or 
made the slightest allusion to them in my own family; 
perhaps I never should have done so, had I not one day 
been timidly sounded by my youngest darling, Blanche, 
who after beating about the bush for a considerable 
time in her own pretty, insinuating way, proceeded to 
pour out a remarkable narrative, the sum of which was 
as follows: — 

It seemed that my daughter's German maid had 
lately been much disturbed by unaccountable noises, 
which kept her awake of a night, and finally induced 
her to ask the housekeeper to change her sleeping 
apartment. On mentioning the cause of her request, 
the housekeeper gravely informed her she would obtain 
no relief from a change of rooms, as she herself as well 
as several of the other domestics had experienced the 
same strange annoyances; that the sounds in question 
w r ere to be heard all over the house, in a word, accord- 
ing to the gouvemante's theory, the strange sounds 
w r ere the new thing that had come across the ocean 
from America, and no one could prevent or hinder them. 



268 GHOST LAND. 

When this piece of philosophy began to be discussed 
in the servants' hall, it turned out, as the housekeeper 
Had said, that strange knockings and odd motions of 
furniture, had been noticed all over the house. Some 
of the servants attributed the trouble to the goblins 
that their master and Professor von Marx had been so 
busy in raising; others, to the work of the late pro- 
fessor's ghost; but all agreed that they had something 
to do with the poor young Chevalier, as they were most 
frequently heard around the apartments occupied by 
him and his Arab servant, and they finally agreed to 

refer the whole matter to Lady Emily L , my wife's 

sister, a staid widow lady now on a visit amongst us, 
and one whose strong sense constituted her a high 
authority in such occult difficulties. "When Lady Emily 
heard the various statements concerning the disturb- 
ances now prevalent, she did not, as had been expected, 
deny their credibility or rebuke the narrators for their 
superstitious opinions, but she quietly informed the 
housekeeper and German maid, that her nieces as 
well as herself had experienced the same disturbances; 
that she had lately been much occupied in reading 
accounts from America on similar phenomena, and cer- 
tain tracts on the subject had explained the method by 
which mortals could put themselves in safe and direct 
communication with these haunting spirits; she ended 
by advising that her nieces and herself, assisted by the 
worthy housekeeper and two of the most intelligent of 
the ladies' maids, should form a circle on the approved 
American fashion and see what would come of it. 

At first the bold investigators nearly scared them- 
selves into fits by their rash experiment, for no sooner 
had they seated themselves on the prescribed plan 
around their circle-table, than that hitherto well-bred 



GHOST LAND. 269 

and inanimate article of furniture, began to leap, dance, 
slide, kick, and behave in such a generally frantic man- 
ner, that the astounded sitters retreated from it in horror, 
and ended by summoning a footman to carry the demo- 
niac piece of furniture away into parts unknown. 

After recovering from the first shock of this astound- 
ing exhibition, the pioneers returned to the charge with 
another table, and then another and another. At last, 
finding that as soon as they put themselves in position, 
every article they laid hands on behaved in the same 
unruly manner, they concluded to consult some of their 
acquaintances who, as report alleged, had already taken 
their first degrees in the mystery of spirit rappings and 
were known to be holding nightly circles with immense 
success. 

From this point it is unnecessary to trace the un- 
foldments of the great secret with which my Blanche 
had come charged. Her gentle mother — at first strenu- 
ously opposed to such terrible doings — had finally been 
initiated as one of the sisters, and become classified 
as an excellent impressional and seeing medium. My 
eldest daughter Sophie, was the writing and drawing 
medium of the band, and had already filled up sev- 
eral quires of foolscap with " communications from the 
seventh sphere." Blanche was a tipping, rapping, per- 
sonating, singing, playing, and every other sort of 
a medium. Lady Emily and the housekeeper were 
w developing mediums," and two German, one Spanish, 
and one French lady's maid, were rapping and seeing 
mediums. In short, I was inforrned that my entire 
household had become hand-and-glove with the spirit 
world; that circles in our own family, as well as in those 
of several of our acquaintances, were in full headway, 
an (3 that they had at length thought it fit and proper 



270 GHOST LAND. 

that they should ask my permission to carry on their 
investigations, as well as my advice as to their best 
modes of procedure. 

Without even hinting to my fair informant that I 
deemed her application came a little late in the day, 
much less apprising her that a certain cousin Harry, 
an Oxford B. A., had kept me fully informed of the 
whole matter from first to last, I assumed a grave air, 
declared the thing had become serious and must be im- 
mediately looked into ; that it was my duty as a county 
magistrate and the father of a family to take the whole 
thing into custody and join the next seance they were 
to hold, which turned out to be that very night. It 
would be unnecessary to pursue this subject further at 
the present time, save to state, that I found several good 
test mediums in my family, as my dear little Blanche had 
stated ; that then and for some two or three years subse- 
quently, my dear ones enjoyed a heaven upon earth in 
the bright and consoling communion of loved ones gone 
before, and that it colored their whole lives and tinctured 
their opinions with a liberal element, which has happily 
never failed to exert its elevating influence over them. 

One day, when I was more than ordinarily concerned 
at the increasing hallucination of the Chevalier, I deter- 
mined to ask our spirit friends what course they would 
recommend me to pursue with him. It seemed to us 
all, a remarkable circumstance that amongst the number 
and variety of spirits that had identified themselves 
through our mediums, Felix von Marx had never mani- 
fested. I had often asked for him, but without success, 
and what was still stranger, none of our spirit friends 
seemed able to give any account of him. They all con- 
curred in stating that they believed he was " still in the 
earth sphere." Pesenting my special request for advice 



GHOST LAND. 271 

to one of our trusted spirit guides, we received the fol- 
lowing message: "Bring the Chevalier here." I was 
doubtful whether he would come; the spirits were sure 
of his compliance. The matter was soon decided, for I 
tendered my invitation to the Chevalier, who at once, 
and with something of his old yielding manner, rose 
and followed me without a word. "No sooner had he 
taken the place assigned him at the circle, than a letter 
came fluttering through the air, passing his face and 
falling on his hand. On opening the sheet we found 
written in ink not yet dry, the words, w Send for Ernes- 
tine — you know who, for you have been writing to her 
this morning." The letter was unsigned, but addressed 

to "John C. Dudley, Esq., Square, London." Now, 

although I had long since given up being astonished at 
anything, I was considerably startled now : first, at the 
only direct writing I had ever received from a spiritual 
source; next, at the intelligence conveyed. The truth 
is, in a recent conversation with my ward, he, under the 
fixed impression that he was Felix von Marx, stated 
that in the early days of his married life he had pur- 
chased and presented to his wife a piece of valuable 
land, the lease of which would run but just about this 
time, and as she would be liable to lose her interest in 
it unless she took certain legal steps which he referred 
to, so he wished I would do him the favor to write and 
advise her of what was requisite to be done. Never 
was I more completely astounded than by this address. 
I knew, if I knew anything, that the Chevalier was 
entirely ignorant that his father had ever been married, 
whilst the information he gave about the property was 
equally unknown to me. Directly after Professor Marx's 
decease I had inquired for the address of his widow the 
Princess Ernestine, and informed her of her loss, at the 



272 GHOST LAND. 

same time mentioning the disposition her late husband 
had made of his property. The princess by letter, 
expressed her entire approval of the professor's will, 
and when I again wrote to her to inquire whether any 
such business transaction as that the Chevalier had 
described, really took place, she entered into a full 
account of the matter, described it in the same terms as 
those employed by the Chevalier, and announced her 
intention of seeing me when she came to London, which, 
she added, she expected to do in a few days on special 
business. She gave as her town address a certain hotel 
in Bond St., and it was a note addressed to her High- 
ness at that hotel that I had actually been engaged in 
writing in the morning. I had been interrupted before 
I could finish my letter, and having put it in my desk 
under lock and key, I had the best reason to believe no 
human being was cognizant of its existence, although, 
as I now found to my astonishment, there were other 
eyes than those of humanity on our most secret actions. 

Our seance soon closed, and this was the first and 
last time the Chevalier ever joined us; in fact, after he 
had taken his place amongst us, his entire absence of 
mind rendered all that passed a complete blank to him. 

The next day I drove to the hotel to which the Princess 
von Marx's letters were to be directed, and on reaching 
it, learned to my great surprise and gratification, that 
she had already arrived, although she was not prepared 
to receive visitors. Sending up my card, with the 
pressing request that she would favor me with an inter- 
view, I found myself admitted to the illustrious lady's 
presence before I had well made up my mind how to 
prefer the strange request I had to make to her. I 
found her Highness composed enough to compensate 
for my blundering ways, so I let her rattle on until it 



GHOST LAND. 273 

suddenly occurred to me I ought to have opened the 
interview by condoling with, her on her widowed condi- 
tion. Before I had got half through the speech I deemed 
it proper to make on this point, the princess interrupted 
me with a grave assurance that she quite appreciated 
the depth of my sympathy, but for her part, her chief 
concern was in the idea that poor Felix must be such an 
unprogressed spirit, in fact, she could not rest until 
she had learned something of what sphere he was 
in. Unprogressed spirit, spheres, and all that sort of 
thing! What did I hear? Why, this was the spiritu- 
alistic dialect to which I was now becoming thoroughly 
accustomed, and if my ears did not deceive me, the 
Princess Ernestine must be a Spiritualist. A few lead- 
ing questions soon settled that point. The princess was 
a Spiritualist, an ardent one, of course, — nay, she had 
actually made a visit to London for the sole purpose of 
consulting a celebrated American medium who had 
lately arrived in the city. Thus was my way made 
clear for me, and my difficult mission more than half 
accomplished. As delicately as I could, I explained 
to her the singular and tenderly intimate tie which 
had bound her late husband to his young protege. 

I then proceeded to detail the awkward dilemma in 
which I and my whole family were placed, by the strange 
hallucination of my ward, whom the princess pronounced 
at once to be "obsessed" by that violent and determined 
late spouse of hers. Interrupting me before I could 
explain the object of my mission, this very impulsive 
lady launched out into the peculiar nature of obsession, 
the special tendencies of that very obstinate person, 
Felix von Marx, and the certainty that there was but 
one way of exorcising him, or in other words, getting 
rid of him, and that was by boldly confronting him in 

18 



274 GHOST LAND. 

her own person. She naively enough assured me, if it 
were von Marx's spirit that possessed the victim, there 
was no surer way of disposing of him, than to bring him 
face to face with his wife ; adding, she was quite satis- 
fied he could n't stay in her presence a single moment, 
but would only be too glad to relinquish his prey, after 
which of course he would retire to the particular sphere 
to which he belonged. "You see, my dear friend," 
urged the lady, in a torrent of eloquence which proved 
how deeply she was immersed in the subject under con- 
sideration, "von Marx can not be anything less than the 
most obstinate of all spirits, just as he was the most 
determined of all men. Now, my plan is this : I '11 pre- 
sent myself before him, announcing my intention of 
remaining there for life if it be necessary. Of course 
he will go, he can not but choose to do so, and thus 
your friend will be delivered from his tormentor and I 
shall have my chance to retaliate; that is, of course, 
I don't mean that, only to aid this most unprogressed 
of spirits to make atonement for past offences." 

When the lady had talked herself out, I at last had 
an opportunity of putting in a mild suggestion. I availed 
myself of it, by informing her my principal object in 
soliciting her interference was, with a view of finally 
testing the truth of the sad proposition as to whether 
the young man was or was not obsessed by the spirit 
of his adopted father. 

As the Chevalier was not only a stranger to the person 
of the princess, but had never even heard of her, it oc- 
curred to me, any intelligence that might be manifested 
by bringing him suddenly into her presence, must prove 
decisive of the real condition of his mind. Of course 
Madame had ulterior designs, to which my proposition 
was but subordinate. However, I mentally determined 



GHOST LAND. 275 

to let matters shape themselves, provided I could only 
succeed in procuring the interview and testify its results 
as above suggested. As the princess was perfectly will- 
ing to accede to any arrangement that could favor the 
design which now possessed her, namely, that of help- 
ing her late husband "to become a progressed spirit," 
it was agreed that she should accompany me back to my 
residence that very evening, so that by taking the Chev- 
alier, as well as the whole of my family by surprise, we 
might make any test of intelligence all the more confir- 
matory. 

After an early dinner, which I partook of tete-a-tete 
with my old flame, but in which anxiety for my ward 
colored our whole conversation, the princess was good 
enough to take a seat in my carriage and accompany me 
to my house, which we reached about eight o'clock in 
the evening. Ushering my fair visitor into my library, 
which led out by French windows on to a broad stone 
terrace overlooking the garden, I went out in search 
of my wife, to whom I proposed to mention the fact of 
the princess's arrival. Just as I had passed on to the 
terrace, my wife and the Chevalier, with whom she had 
been walking, approached, and I immediately returned 
for the princess, whom I thus allowed to encounter the 
Chevalier without a moment's preparation on either side. 
The pale and haggard face, bent form, and pleading 
eyes of the unfortunate young man, would have com- 
manded pity from the least interested observer, but 
when the singular and almost preternatural resem- 
blance that existed between the professor and his 
"protege is remembered, the start and faint cry of the 
princess on beholding such an apparition, might easily 
be understood. 

As to. the Chevalier himself, the wild glare which lit 



276 GHOST LAND. 

up his eyes and the look of horror which transfigured 
his whole expression, fixed us all in anxious expectation. 
The deep flush which at first mantled his worn, cheek, 
turned to a frightful pallor as he exclaimed in accents 
of deep agitation, "Ernestine! Ernestine! in the name 
of heaven and our dead child, why have you come hither 
to torment me?" 

"Is it you, Felix?" the lady murmured, in low and 
trembling accents. 

"Is it Felix von Marx?" he asked, in those tones of 
bitter scorn which I had so often heard from the profes- 
sor, but never before from the gentle lips of his son. 
" Is this poor, shivering wreck the Felix whom you took 
on that bright, fatal summer day, O Ernestine! when 
I sold you my peace and liberty for a mess of pottage?" 

I had heard from von Marx that this very expression, 
wrung from him in one of his most acrimonious matri- 
monial disputes, had been more violently resented by 
his lady than any other reproach that had ever fallen 
from his lips. To hear it now repeated by one who was 
not even in existence when it had been first uttered, and 
who never by any possibility could have heard it applied 
in such a connection, was so startling to myself, my 
wife, and the princess, that the insult it conveyed, passed 
us all unnoticed; meantime the Chevalier, assuming a 
more dignified and less passionate tone, now addressed 
the lady with grave courtesy and begged her to retire 
with him for a few moments, then bowing to me and 
my wife, he motioned the lady with an air of deep 
respect to accompany him to the end of the terrace 
where he seated her, standing leaning against the stone 
balustrade to the end of the interview. As they retired, 
my wife, who was by this time thoroughly convinced my 
theory of obsession was correct, remarked in a frightened 



GHOST LAND. 277 

whisper how strange it was that throughout the whole 
scene the young man should have spoken in the Rus- 
sian language. Now, we were both aware that though 
von Marx spoke this tongue with perfect facility, he had 
in vain tried to induce his son to learn it. Its harsh 
guttural tones were so distasteful to him, that he always 
declared he could not study it, yet he had used it in 
addressing the princess, and that with the fluency and 
correctness of a native. Madame von Marx assured us 
also he had maintained their protracted conversation 
entirely in that language. 

What the substance of that interview w T as we never 
heard. The lady wept abundantly as it proceeded, and 
when at last the Chevalier, bowing to her profoundly, 
passed us and retired, Madame, whom we immediately 
rejoined, was so much affected, that it was some time 
before she could recover her composure. She begged 
us not to press her for details-, but assured tts "that 
weird stranger" had spoken to her of matters which 
none beside God and her late husband could have 
known, and that had she not previously been convinced 
of the truth of Spiritualism, the unmistakable presence 
of Felix von Marx's spirit in a human body, ivhilst his 
own was mouldering in the grave, must have converted 
her. We decided that it would not be safe to subject 
our visitor to a renewal of these exciting scenes, hence 
the princess determined not to see him again; besides, 
the test which we had sought, was fully rendered, and 
now the only question that remained was what steps we 
should pursue to release the victim from his terrible and 
unnatural bondage. 

If my readers can apprehend the scope of my strange 
narrative, if they do not deem it an idle and senseless 
fabrication rather than a statement put on record for the 



278 GHOST LAND. 

sake of illustrating one of the most momentous and 
solemn of problems in mental science, they will per- 
ceive with what stupendous difficulties my path was 
now environed. 

My good name had already been injuriously associated 
with vague and, of course, utterly unfounded rumors con- 
cerning the nature of the occult practices in which I was 
known to be interested. Despite the extreme reticence 
of my wife and daughters on the subject of our spiritual 
investigations, the tidings had gone abroad that I had 
succeeded in perverting them from the faith of their 
fathers and " inveigling them into the absurd and blas- 
phemous pretensions of the new sect calling themselves 
Spiritualists." 

These pernicious reports were sufficiently calculated 
to prejudice us in the opinion of our large circle of 
acquaintance and painfully affect the sensitive natures 
of my dear ones at home. 

The sudden death of the celebrated Professor von 
Marx had excited muoh injurious comment, and sufficed 
to cast an ill odor on all who were supposed to be 
engaged in the occult pursuits to which whispered 
rumor attributed his mysterious demise; but the most 
distressing of all my perplexities was the condition of 
my unhappy ward. Here was a young foreigner of 
high birth, distinguished appearance, and heir to prop- 
erty of which I had been left sole trustee. This gen- 
tleman had first disappeared and then reappeared under 
the most mysterious circumstances, and the deep seclu- 
sion in which I was now said to hold him, served to 
swell the tide of prejudice that was mustering against 
me. The faithful Arabian who attended on my ward 
could speak no English, but my other domestics con- 
verted even this circumstance into evil testimony, alleg- 



GHOST LAND. 279 

ing that he was stricken dumb to all but his master 
under the influence of a spell." 

The strange sounds and sights that had of late pos- 
sessed my house, and the report that the Chevalier was 
obsessed by demons, were other items of public gossip 
against which I found it impossible to make headway. 

My lawyers urged an immediate settlement of Pro- 
fessor von Marx's estate, but my ward was in no condi- 
tion to assist me in doing so. Meantime my large circle 
of very dear friends testified by the frequency and 
length of their visits, the deep interest they took in my 
private affairs. They manifested this disposition more 
especially by their reiterated inquiries for my " charm- 
ing ward," and their pressing requests that Mrs. Dudley 
would bring him with her to this assembly or that soiree, 
nay, at times they propounded the direct question to my 
wife and daughters, why the Chevalier never appeared 
in public any more. To all these impertinences my poor 
girls could only plead their guest's ill health and his 
inconsolable grief for the loss of his friend. 

At length a rumor began to spread, from what source 
I know not, that Professor von Marx was not really 
dead, but that his pupil was, and a hint was even 
dropped upon the propriety of exhuming the body to 
ascertain its identity. 

The poor princess, shocked at the various evil reports 
that were in circulation, fled away to the Continent, 
postponing her intention of helping her late husband's 
spirit out of purgatory, until matters were more favor- 
able for the experiment. My dear wife and children 
bore up more bravely under our various trials than I had 
a right to expect; still we all realized that though the 
ominous words w witchcraft " and ** magic " were gone 
out of fashion, and we could no more become obnoxious 



280 GHOST LAND. 

to the sorcerer's doom of fire and fagots, there were yet 
two words of scarcely less evil import whispered against 
us, and these were "Spiritualism" and "infidelity," whilst 
the fire and fagots of public opinion might be made 
scarcely less scorching than the flames of the ancient 
auto-da-fe. 

I am now writing not so much for my own time or 
generation, as for myself and posterity. I wish to leave 
a record behind me which will serve as a mile-stone on 
the road of spiritualistic discovery which later genera- 
tions will assuredly traverse. I wish too, in thus recall- 
ing the bitter experiences I have passed through, to 
analyze some of the mysteries of then causation, and 
endeavor to profit by the lessons they have afforded me 
through a candid examination of their different points. 
Let me add then, to this page of confession, that the 
most insoluble problem that now beset me, I found lurk- 
ing within the depths of my own consciousness, that is 
to say, I felt entirely uncertain concerning the propri- 
ety, or even the righteousness of my own past course. 
What had my researches into these awful realms of 
spiritual existence, brought to me and mine? I asked. 

Visions of horror, scenes which make the blood 
curdle to remember; phantoms from realms of which 
I knew nothing, and association with beings whose 
nature was revolting to my poor, weak humanity. My 
friend too was dead, and in the midst of all the reveal- 
ments which the weird phenomena around me brought, 
I could learn no tidings of his immortal being, except 
such as filled me with new horror and dismay. The 
dreadful hallucination of the young Chevalier, that is, 
if hallucination it was, rather than a still more fearful 
reality, — all this, added to my own doubts, fears, and 
present struggles with public opinion, formed such an 



GHOST LAND. 281 

array of calamity that, light-hearted and trusting as I 
generally was, I felt as if I must soon sink beneath my 
burdens, unless indeed, something came to help me 
endure, or relieve me from them. 

It was in the depth of this Grethsemane that my deai 
girls became mediums, and furnished to their afflicted 
parents just the very bread of life for which they were 
famishing. The proofs of immortality these happy, 
blessed seances of ours brought us, were irresistible and 
conclusive. The tokens of spirit presence, guardianship, 
and continued protection became to our wounded spirits 
a perpetual strength and consolation. 

Wise, reasonable, just philosophy was rendered us for 
the difficulties by which we were surrounded. Profes- 
sor von Marx's excessive absorption in occult practices 
was represented as the cause of the great wrong he had 
done to his beloved protege, rendering him a mere para- 
site on another's life, and filling him with a foreign mag- 
netism which destroyed his individuality, and made him 
a mere fragile, helpless instrument of another's will. It 
was to this cause that our spirit friends attributed the 
Chevalier's desperate attempt at suicide and his present 
obsession. 

As to the shafts which public opinion levelled against 
us, we were warned that the path of the reformer and 
innovator ever runs in the grooves of martyrdom, and 
that if we would be found worthy to become participants 
in new revelations of truth, we must endure the fires of 
persecution from the disciples of the old. We were 
promised a speedy deliverance from all the pains and 
penalties that now beset us, although the way was not 
yet clearly mapped out; and thus when I began to 
compare the sufferings which ignorance and misrepre- 
sentation put upon us with the vast boon of knowledge, 



282 GHOST LAND. 

consolation, and exalting communion which we enjoyed 
by the new revelation vouchsafed to us, I concluded the 
jewel we had obtained was more than worth the cost, 
and we who were recipients in this precious truth, whilst 
we felt the necessity of shielding it from vulgar comment, 
and reserving our pearls lest the swine of calumny and 
prejudice should destroy them, still united in the resolve 
that we would continue to bear our cross so long as we 
realized that Calvary was the footstool of Paradise. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

DIARY OF JOHN CAVENDISH DUDLEY, ESQ., CONTINUED. 

K Felix von Marx has, in his earth life, taken him- 
self out of the hands of loving spirit ministers, and sunk 
down to the sphere of elementary spirits, from which he 
can only escape by a resumption of the natural order 
of being, an order he has striven to reverse. He has 
entangled the soul and body of his adopted son in the 
same fatal meshes of error, and both must pay the pen- 
alty of new birth and resurrection, through pain and 
sorrow, before they can come into the order of nature, 
where the love of spirit friends and kindred can minis- 
ter unto them. 

* ? A little while longer and this beneficent change will 
be accomplished. In the spheres ruled by sub-mundane 
and super-mundane being, this great revolution has origi- 
nated, and from thence the restoration must also come. 
Human spirits can not yet intervene or aid them. We 
can but hover near and seize upon every favorable op- 
portunity to sustain and strengthen them, until their 
restitution is effected. The All-Father when he placed 
mortals on earth, wisely dropped a veil between the past 
and future, the higher and lower realms of being, suffi- 
ciently opaque to shield the dim eyes of mortals from 
too much light, — knowledge too high or vast for their 
frail natures to apprehend. The daring souls who lift 
that veil and penetrate into the awful realms beyond 



284 GHOST LAND. 

are like swimmers who venture into the billowy wastes 
of which they have no soundings. Yon Marx and 

Louis de B are in the midst of these fathomless 

abysses of sub-mundane and super-mundane knowl- 
edge. We cannot help them yet, but God, the Father 
of spirits, can. He sees, knows, and pities, and will re- 
deem them from the depths, and bring them into the 
paths he destines their feet to tread. Meantime His 
providence works through human means, and these you 
must employ to fulfil his designs. 

"Once more the agencies of magic must be set in 
motion to redeem its victims. Call together then, the 
Orphic Circle, and there you will receive the help you 
solicit, the guidance necessary for your future action, 
and the direction we cannot give, but the spirits who 
govern there can." 

Such was the communication rapped out to me, letter 
by letter, at one of our own family seances in answer to 
an urgent appeal on my part for guidance concerning 
my future course in connection with the Chevalier de 
B . In obedience to the suggestions of the com- 
municating spirit, one in whom we had all learned to 
repose implicit confidence, I determined to resume my 
place amongst the members of the Orphic Circle at their 
next regular meeting. I had not joined my companions 
for nearly four months, and the announcement of my 
intention to do so induced them to call a special seance 
at an earlier period than usual. On the night in ques- 
tion I left my invalid guest in his own apartment, whither 
he had retired, declining to accompany me, as he com- 
plained of an unconquerable tendency to sleep ; indeed, 
he had sunk into a profound slumber before I left him, 
and I heard him desire his servant not to awaken him 
till the following morning. 



GHOST LAND. 285 

After our lodge had been opened with the usual for- 
mulae, the scene began to resemble that which trans- 
pired on the night of Professor von Marx's death. There 
was the same uncertainty and waiting expectancy in our 
minds; the same restlessness of feeling amongst our 
neophytes, clairvoyants, and members. The lamps flick- 
ered and became extinguished spontaneously several 
times, although the indescribable feeling of awe that 
pervaded our assembly induced the wardens to relight 
them, contrary to our custom. All at once, sheets of 
lightning flashed through the room in every direction, 
finally extinguishing every other light and followed by 
the most tremendous peals of thunder, I think, I ever 
heard. 

This awful crash announced the bursting of a long- 
expected storm, which had been brooding over the city 
all day. For more than three hours the wildest commo- 
tion of the elements succeeded, indeed, for many sub- 
sequent years, the violence of the tempest that raged 
that night was not forgotten by those who witnessed it. 
At first we felt relieved by the opening of the storm 
without, deeming that the sensations of oppression we 
had experienced might be thus naturally accounted for, 
but very soon the feeling of nameless awe returned, and 
at length we perceived in the incessant glare of the 
lightning which filled our otherwise dark lodge-room 
with sheets of livid flame, a tall figure standing beside 
the central altar with one foot on the lowest step. At 
first we were disposed to think one of our own number 
had assumed this position under the efflatus of the mag- 
netic trance, but the repeated flashes of the electric fluid 
illuminating the stranger's features, at length revealed 
to all present the unmistakable similitude of Felix von 
Marx. We noticed too, that the figure was arrayed in 



286 GHOST LAND. 

a professor's robe, whilst the college cap, which formed 
a portion of the costume, was distinctly visible, lying 
on the white cloth of the altar. Let me here remark, 
without any wrong done to a Society many of whose 
sessions and underlying principles, the members hold 
themselves sacredly bound to keep secret, that the appa- 
ritions which we had been accustomed to invoke, and 
those described by our seers, clairvoyants, and neo- 
phytes, were not the spirits of the dead, or at least not 
so regarded; hence this unmistakable apparition, mani- 
fest to all present, and so clearly identical with one 
whose mortal remains we had ourselves committed to 
the grave, made a deeper and more profound impression 
upon us than a thousand spectral forms of the K flying 
soul " or the spirits of nature, whether in or out of the 
crystals and mirrors. We knew that on that night no 
stranger could by any possibility have entered the hall, 
nor had any one been present when the doors were 
locked and guarded, save the members and officers of 
the Society. 

Several minutes of fearful suspense elapsed, and then 
the truth began to flash upon us, that the apparition of 
von Marx w T as not alone. Seated on the ground were a 
circle of dark, shrouded figures, such as we had seen 
some months before, only this time there was but one cir- 
cle, and this seemed to enclose the altar and surround 
the tall stranger on every side but one, and in that 
opening, on the side of the altar opposite to von Marx, 
stood a female form veiled and enveloped in a lumi- 
nous white, sparkling mist, through which we could 
dimly discern the outlines of her form. As this beau- 
tiful apparition with all the other phantom surround- 
ings became visible, it seemed as if we, the watchers, 
would be turned to stone. My blood began to freeze in 



GHOST LAND. 287 

my veins, my eyeballs to start from their sockets, and a 
horror such as I had never believed could possess a 
mortal without bereaving him of life, stole over me and 
threatened me with speedy dissolution. Had no relief 
come I am certain I should have expired ; and the sensa- 
tions I then felt, I was afterwards informed, were shared 
by most of my companions. I have seen as well as 
heard much of spiritual phenomena since that time; 
beheld what is called by mediums w materialized forms," 
that is, human souls clothed again in the panoply of 
substantial fleshly bodies; but all these sights paled 
before the spiritual actuality of this dreadful phantom 
band, these dead alive, through whose impalpable forms 
we could see the opposite wall, the glare of the light- 
nings, and each other; these beings, who diffused around 
them that aroma of horror, from which our sentient 
humanity shrinks back; between whom and us exists an 
invisible barrier, which none can pass and live. But 
relief came at last. A slow and solemn strain of music 
filled the hall, commencing at first in soft and distant 
echoes, then it grew stronger, firmer, and more distinct, 
until it came amongst us, and was evidently accompanied 
by the soft but regular beat of marching feet. Some- 
thing then passed me by; I felt the wind of moving 
bodies, and I saw my companions stir and turn their 
heads to look in the line of an invisible procession, 
which all could feel though none might see it. AVe 
also felt that the line of march was towards the altar. 
We saw by the unceasing glare of the lightning, the 
crouching forms look up and the tall stranger draw back 
to make way for the invisible host. 

A space was cleared in front of the altar, which pres- 
ently became filled up with a dense mass, and whilst a 
succession of rapid flashes kept the lodge in a continu- 



288 GHOST LAND. 

ous livid light, we saw a bier covered with white dra- 
pery, on which seemed to lie the sleeping form of the 

Chevalier de B . Then the female figure extended 

across the bier a staff wreathed with a shining serpent. 
This she pointed towards the male figure, who took it 
from her hand, and bent his head as if acknowledging 
a gift. The music ceased, and we heard a voice issuing, 
as it seemed, from the spot on which von Marx stood, 
although his lips moved not, nor did he appear to 
speak. 

The voice said, " The life transfer has been made ; 
man's work is ended, and God's has begun. The woof 
of two lives is spun anew ; one regains his spiritual, the 
other his mortal birthright. God's will be done on 
earth as it is in heaven." 

Then the tone changed, and from the direction of the 
female form came a voice, sweeter than ever tone of 
music rung in mortal ears, saying, w Behold, I show you 
a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be 
changed; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
shall be raised incorruptible." If more was spoken, our 
deafened ears lost it, for peal after peal of thunder 
shook the hall, distracting us by its crashing vibrations. 
A few seconds of thick darkness prevailed, and when 
next the streams of electric fire filled the hall, it was 
empty; at least, the phantoms had vanished, although 
we felt their dread presence passing us by, pressing 
against some of us the bier they carried, and heard 
amidst the pauses in the heavenly artillery, the beat of 
the rhythmical march and the faint vibrations of distant 
music, swallowed up again by the peals of the rolling 
thunder. Muttered exclamations of horror and the 
flare of matches followed. Some one in mercy to the 
rest had relighted the lamps, enabling us to look at each 



GHOST LAND. 289 

other's wild and haggard faces and stagger forth from 
that place of dread and glamour. 

For four weary days and nights I and my distracted 
family watched by the cold, rigid, and lifeless form of our 
unhappy guest. No morning of awakening life had 
come for him, and the physicians pronounced that the 
vital spark had fled ; nay, they urged, with what all who 
loved him felt to be indecent haste, that the formulae 
of interment should proceed at once. My mediumistic 
girls insisted that life still remained, and that he would 
revive to thank and bless us; in fact, the grief and 
indignation of my wife and loving children at the con- 
duct of the strangers around us, was only equalled by 
the fear and inhumanity they displayed. The medical 
men shrugged their shoulders, sneered at the tender 
assiduity of the poor ladies, and muttered prophetic 
remarks about lunatic asylums. My dear wife sat hold- 
ing the sleeper's lifeless hand, bathing it with her tears, 
but, like myself, felt uncertain in what direction to yield 
credence. 

Deep as was our concern for our cherished guest, 
there were other points in our situation of an equally 
distressing character. During the entire four nights 
and days of our sad watch, an array of terrors beset us 
difficult to describe. The air, the ground, the walls, and 
every place and thing around us, seemed to be charged 
with unearthly sounds and spontaneous motion. Some- 
times we sat listening to the pattering of little feet, or 
the regular beat of a marching host. The whining tones 
of small animals, the rustling of silk, flapping of wings, 
or a succession of low knockings, greeted us every- 
where; strange birds flew through our halls and gal- 
leries, and rushed past us in our very chambers ; indis- 
tinct forms flitted hither and thither by day as well as 



290 GHOST LAND. 

night. At times the noises deepened to an indescribable 
uproar, in which the ear found no special tone to distin- 
guish, and then soughed away to deep sighs, or distant 
moans. When neither sight nor hearing was affected, 
the scene became still more ghastly and oppressive in 
appeals to the sense of touch ; some object would press 
against us, or so disturb the air, as to cause vibrations 
in all things around us. Towards evening and in the 
gray of the dawn, we heard on each successive night, 
the sound of solemn music, which would alternately 
advance and recede, like a band of performers who came 
towards the place wherever we might happen to be, 
passed through it, and then retreated from it. These 
strains were not only delightful to the ear, but wonder- 
fully soothing to our excited minds; they seemed to 
convey an element of consolation and a message of 
peace, very cheering to us and entirely free from the 
ghastly prestige of all the other manifestations. At the 
earnest request of my faithful associates of the Orphic 
Circle, who rallied around my afflicted family with true 
fraternal kindness, we had placed the poor Chevalier on 
a bier, surrounded with burning tapers, and a profusion 
of the sweet, fresh flowers in which he so passionately 
delighted. On several occasions the tapers would flicker 
and go out spontaneously, but as we never left the 
sleeper alone, the watchers were careful to relight the 
tapers at the very instant they were extinguished. 

Before the fourth night had set in, several of our 
domestics had left us in irrepressible terror. Those 
who remained, though they had grown old and attached 
in our service, expressed their deepest horror of the 
scenes enacting around them, but pity for our distress 
overcame their fears, and provided they were permitted 
to move about in groups, they determined not to forsake 



GHOST LAND. 291 

us. The Arabian, who had attended the young Cheva- 
lier from early infancy, throughout this whole dread 
period remained unmoved. He never left the chamber 
where his beloved master lay, and if we had not brought 
him his daily mess of rice and other simple articles of 
food, he might have starved ere he would have quitted 
his solemn charge. 

The heroine of my now diminished household was 
my precious Blanche. This brave young girl rallied 
the drooping spirits of the domestics, and assembling 
them together at morning and evening, read them pas- 
sages of Scripture and made them join her own pure 
voice in singing solemn hymns. Each night, accompa- 
nied by my old and well-tried butler, she passed through 
every room in the dreary mansion, inspected its fasten- 
ings, and by her cheerful voice and noble example, 
stimulated the timid domestics to exert themselves in 
guarding the house from the possible inroad of maraud- 
ers. These precautions were by no means unnecessary. 
All sorts of wild reports had gone abroad concerning 
the state of our distressed household. For two days 
the door was beseiged with curious inquirers, who 
sought under any pretence to gain admission, or learn 
tidings of what was passing within. It would seem 
that the reports of those who left us were rather dis- 
couraging to the idly curious without, for after the first 
two days of our mournful watch and ward, our house 
was quite deserted, and even the tradesmen who pre- 
sented themselves with goods at the servants' entrance, 
handed them in and fled away, with signs of terror as 
marked, as if the place had been infected with some 
dreadful pestilence. 

Looking back upon this most trying period of my 
life, I am amazed to recall my own power of self-gov- 



292 GUOST LAND. 

ernment and composure. Like my youngest daughter, 
I felt that my mission was to cheer and strengthen 
others, and in the effort to do this, my own fortitude 
and self-reliance rose to the rescue. I never before, 
perhaps I might own with compunction, never since, 
have prayed so heartily, never felt a more complete reli- 
ance on the great, good God, to whom I knew all sub- 
ordinate agencies, however powerful or wicked, were 
eternally subject. 

My faith increased with every new trial, and at last I 
felt able to endure whatever more might come, and only 
marvelled what the worst would be. I must not omit to 
mention that there was one phenomenon which, though 
calculated to inspire the most dread of all others, filled 
us with sentiments of hope and courage, for which we 
could not account, even to ourselves. This was the 
unmistakable sound of Felix von Marx's voice, speaking 
from the empty air, speaking above, about, around us, 
we knew not from whence, but ever sounding with a 
tone so clearly human, kind, and encouraging, yet firm 
and commanding, that all our fears vanished directly his 
accents met our ears. Sometimes he uttered only the 
one word w John, " sometimes •* Dear John," or w I am 
here ; fear nothing." On one occasion my little Blanche 
startled our dreary hall with one of her bright, ringing 
peals of laughter, her delight was so great, as she heard 
the full, rich, well-remembered tone crying, K Good little 
Blanche, well done ! " 

On the fourth evening this consoling voice repeated 
many times in clear and cheery accents, w All 's well! " 
Towards midnight, worn out as we were with a distress 
that knew no parallel, oppressed with long watching, 
the desertion of the world without, and the increasing 
prevalence of the awful disturbances within, I insisted 



GHOST LAND. 293 

that my dear girls should retire with their weeping 
mother to rest, and that no one should watch with me 
that night, but the faithful Arabian, and my Orphic 

brother, Sir Thomas L . Before parting for the 

night, I dismissed my tired domestics with a short prayer 
and kind benediction. I then assembled my family ? 
including Sir Thomas and the Arabian, in my library, 
which adjoined the room where the bier was laid. There 
met together, I read to my sobbing listeners the beautiful 
sixty-ninth Psalm, which commences thus : * Save me, 
O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul." Just 
as I had reached the pathetic words, w I am become a 
stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother's 
children," I was struck dumb by hearing the voice of 
von Marx crying in sharp, clear, distinct tones, w Louis, 
Louis, awake ! " Instantly there was a movement in the 
death-chamber; a deep-drawn sigh, then another and 
another. Other sounds followed, echoed by the beating 
of every throbbing heart; then — the sound of a foot- 
step. It advanced nearer, nearer yet. The half-closed 
door between the rooms was gently moved, then pushed 
open, and the Chevalier, dressed in his ordinary costume, 
as we had laid him on the bier, very pale, but moving 
with a firm step and erect bearing, stood in our midst. 
The light of reason was in his fine eyes ; the smile of 
recognition on his lips. Extending to my wife and 
myself each, a cold hand, which we warmly clasped 
to our hearts, he said in his own natural voice and 
sweet Italian accent, "My dear friends, I have had a 
long, long sleep. I see you thought it was to have 
been my last; but your wayward Louis is not dead 
yet you see, and will live for many years to thank and 
bless you for all your kindness." 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

DIARY OF JOHN CAVENDISH DUDLEY, ESQ., CONTINUED. 

Sept. 30, 18 — . Five months have elapsed since I 
made my last entry, and now it is the glorious period 
of ripe autumn, when Nature summons all her reserved 
force to cast a spell of loveliness over the scene, ere she 
closes up her summer housekeeping; when woods and 
hill, forest and glen, are adorned in the richest liveries 
of the fading year ; when the green earth, blue sky, and 
the many-colored foliage of the woods, combine to clothe 
the scene in a wealth of harmonious beauty, unknown 
to any other season. 

I am reclining on the velvet turf which covers the 
side of a lofty mountain overlooking the boundless 
expanse of the ocean. The purple mists of an autumn 
sunset, crown the swelling hills of the distant landscape, 
and linger amidst the shady dells which checker the 
lovely scene. Far out at sea the white sails of many a 
fishing-boat gleam over the crested waves and relieve 
the expanse of heaving waters from the deep loneliness 
of an ocean view. 

At the mountain's foot is the broad expanse of my 
own domain, the park and grounds of my old ancestral 
home, and by my side, stretched like myself on the 
mossy turf, is the object of my last eight months of 
incessant care, the Chevalier de B . 

A greater change than that between my town resi- 



GHOST LAND. 295 

dence and the sea-side home in which we now luxuriate, 
has come over my esteemed but singular guest. All of 
youth or youthful manners, thoughts or habits, have 
wholly disappeared in him. He speaks and acts like a 
man of mature life, yet he is not yet twenty-one years 
of age. Although he has become almost restored to his 
ordinary share of health and strength, the cataclysms 
of the past, have robbed him of that vigor and elas- 
ticity which should mark his time of life; and whilst 
regaining the singular beauty of person which formerly 
distinguished him, there is a weary air, and a sad, far- 
away expression in his fine face, which never brightens 
into mirth or lights up with joy. He never speaks of 
Professor von Marx, and whenever I chance to mention 
his name, he listens with a shiver, and shrinks away from 
the subject with such evident distress, that I have come 
to regard that once dear and familiar name, as tabooed 
between us. The passive submission which once dis- 
tinguished his manner, has now changed to a stately, 
dignified demeanor, which speaks of fixed purpose and 
firm will. Though kind and courteous to all, affec- 
tionate to myself and family, and deferential to the 
opinions of others, there is a wall of isolation built up 
around him, which none can surmount; a lonely ab- 
straction which repels all human sympathy and silently 
rejects all confidence. In his days of convalescence, I 
communicated to him the details of Professor von 
Marx's will, his generous bequest of his small yet suffi- 
cient fortune to him, and his desire that I should become 
his guardian and trustee. He listened to the financial 
details with some show of impatience, carelessly alluded 
to his own resources, which he supposed were already 
sufficient for his simple requirements; but he seemed 
too indifferent even to converse upon a topic so impor- 



296 GHOST LAND. 

taut to most young men as the bequest of an indepen- 
dence. Somewhat piqued in my own mind by what I 
could not for the life of me help considering as ingrati- 
tude for the poor professor's fatherly care, I remarked, 
perhaps rather coldly, "My dear old friend's chief 
sources of income, were derived from the exercise of 
his brilliant talents ; still, the bequest of every shilling 
he died possessed of, proves his desire to convince you 
that his affection for you survives beyond the grave. 
Don't you think so?" With an expression of anguish 
such as I have rarely seen upon any human countenance, 
the young man gazed at me for a moment, then crying 
in a choking voice, " Oh, hush ! hush ! if you would 
not kill me or drive me mad," he buried his face in 
his hands, over which the tears streamed fast and thick. 
I was shocked at the effect of my unkind remark and 
strove to atone for it by blundering apologies; but I 
soon found I had unstopped with reckless hand the 
vials of a grief too deep for utterance, and one which, 
thus renewed, bore down all the barriers of self-con- 
trol, which the silent mourner had been laboring to 
erect around him. His form shook with convulsive 
sobs; he threw himself on the ground, tearing up 
handfuls of earth and sod, in his wild and uncon- 
trollable grief. I was fairly aghast, and knew not what 
to say or, do in such a crisis, when, for the first time for 
nearly five months, I was equally startled and rejoiced 
to hear the low, deep tones of Felix von Marx's spirit, 
murmuring clearly in my ear, K Leave him to me." I 
retreated, and never again ventured on such dangerous 
ground, except to speak of such business arrangements 
as were absolutely essential to be discussed. When I 
again mentioned the topic of my guardianship, he 
thanked me, with many expressions of grateful appre- 



GHOST LAND. 297 

ciation, but stated, as one that had formed a resolution 
from which there could be no departure, that he should 
be glad to stay with me for one year ; he then proposed 
to take his leave, having determined to visit Madame 
his mother, now his sole surviving parent in India. 
I was a little taken aback at the quiet air of determina- 
tion with which this plan was announced, and asked him 
if he desired to spend that intervening year in college, 
or some seat of learning, where he could cultivate his 
wonderfully intellectual powers by study. 

**~No, no, no! my friend," he replied, with that 
nervous haste which always seemed to possess him, 
when any allusions were made to his past life. "I shall 
never study again, at least not in schools or colleges. 
My future studies must be conducted in the hard 
school of life, but not in books. I cannot read! I can- 
not read ! I shall not need to do so either." And read 
he did not. I never saw him open a book whilst he 
remained with me, yet his conversation upon every 
subject except his own past life, was brilliant and 
masterly. He played and sang exquisitely, yet he 
never glanced at a note of music, nor do I know when 
or how he had learned that art. Except in his prepara- 
tion for his military career, none of his acquirements 
were of a scholastic character, yet their compass and 
range was immense. He could solve a mathematical 
problem and speak with the utmost correctness of 
geometrical proportions, yet sound him on the methods 
by which he had arrived at his conclusions, and he 
became confused, and said he had not studied enough 
to answer. He would discourse brilliantly on geo- 
logical formations and was never weary of descanting 
on the grandeur of the universe, but when pressed 
to answer some question of mere detail, he would gaze 



298 GHOST LAND. 

wildly at the questioner, and complain that such subjects 
troubled him. In ancient lore, especially on the founda- 
tions of theology, astrology, and ethnology, I have heard 
this strange being discourse by the hour. With eyes fixed 
on some far-distant object, and seemingly unconscious 
of the interest and admiration he excited, he would 
pour forth a stream of eloquence on the most occult 
subjects. Color, form, tone, earth, heaven, the marvels 
of astronomy, the superb architecture of the universe, — 
everything, in short, that a long life of profound study 
would have informed others of, this young man de- 
scribed in words that burned into the listener's con- 
sciousness, and when the tides of thought ceased to 
flow, he would stammer, stare wildly, seem worn and 
exhausted, and sink back into his usual abstracted iso- 
lation. Nothing ever seemed to distress him so much, 
as the attempt to find out whence he derived his knowl- 
edge, or how he had acquired such a vast fund of infor- 
mation. I have seen others of his stamp since then; 
trance mediums gifted with a similar influx of inspira- 
tion, but the type was new to me when I first saw the 
Chevalier de B , nor do I ever remember any som- 
nambulist as highly gifted as him. 

When he announced his intention to stay with me 
for one year, he added, "I will remain for your good, 
my best and truest friend, as well as for my own. I 
can tell you some things that will interest you; you 
will help this shivering, unstrung, frame of mine, to 
grow into strength and manhood." 

These were the very words he was speaking at the 
time marked in my diary at the opening of this chapter. 
We had never held any seances of the Orphic Society 
since the memorable night of the Chevalier's resuscita- 
tion. The great shock we then experienced, and the 



GHOST LAND. 299 

cares which had since engrossed me with my invalid 
ward, had determined us to adjourn until the winter. 
During my young friend's convalescence all my butter- 
fly acquaintances had returned ; congratulations poured 
in upon me, and my weird reputation changed for a char- 
acter of " unmixed firmness and benevolence " ; meantime, 
I had deemed it prudent in my intercourse with my sin- 
gular charge to avoid all allusion to his past life or 
occult subjects generally. How to deal most tenderly 
with this fearfully sensitive nature was my sole care, and 
in so doing, I utterly disregarded the advice of my 
Orphic associates, namely, to take every opportunity of 
cultivating his remarkable powers of clairvoyance, or, 
as we had now learned to term it, mediumistic gifts. 
My daughters and many of their young acquaintances 
still held spirit circles, and I often joined them with 
my dear wife, when we derived such happiness as the 
earth and earthly things could not bring, in com- 
munion with our beloved angel guardians. To the 
Chevalier I never spoke of these seances. I believe 
he knew of their occurrence, but he never mentioned 
them to me, and generally absented himself from the 
house when they were in session. 

Unearthly sounds had not wholly ceased, nor did the 
flitting forms of unknown beings altogether disappear 
from our old, time-honored residence, but these mystic 
sights and sounds were chiefly confined to the apart- 
ments occupied by the Chevalier and his Arab servant, 
and into these charmed precincts I was the only member 
of the family that ever penetrated. I know I heard 
thrilling, mystic voices more than once, in conversation 
with my strange ward when I approached his rooms; 
sometimes, too, I saw unmistakably, a beautiful, luminous 
female form hovering in the moonlight when I had lin- 



300 GHOST LAND. 

gered with him alone after the night had fallen; but as 
he never entered with me on the topic of the inner life, 
and I would no more have dared broach it to him than I 
would have trodden on a wounded foot, the subject was 
entirely dropped between us until the evening that again 
introduces us to — whoever my readers may chance to 
be. On this occasion my guest, raising himself on his 
arm and fixing his dark, luminous eyes on mine, said, 
w Mr. Dudley, why don't you renew the Orphic seances 
with which you were so interested?" 

"Why don't I renew them?" I said, taken aback by 
the abruptness of the question. " Because — because — 
I have been engaged in other matters ; besides, you see, 
we are away off in the country, and our lodge is in 
town, you know." 

"What does that matter?" rejoined my companion, 
with that impetuosity which I had begun to associate 
w # ith his most abnormal conditions. " The place matters 
little, except when it is favorable or otherwise to the 
work in hand. Mr. Dudley, summon your companions," 
naming over rapidly several gentlemen, near neighbors 
of mine, whom I knew to be interested in occult pur- 
suits, but of whose secret predilections I had no reason 
to think the Chevalier had been aware. "Call them 
together and establish a lodge-room in the midst of yon 
glorious grove ; the grove behind that hill, I mean. It 
is your own property, and you can take measures to 
secure it from interruption." 

" I like your idea," I replied, " but you know we have 
none of our lucides or clairvoyants within reach, nor 
shall we be likely to meet with them again till winter." 

"You will need none," replied the Chevalier in his 
far-off, dreamy way. 

I did not question him then, for I was beginning to 



GHOST LAND. 301 

understand this " mystic " better and better every day. 
I only asked, therefore, when he thought we might 
begin. 

" One week from now." 

" Be it so. The plan shall be put in operation." 

For the next six days I busied myself incessantly with 
gardeners, woodsmen, and carpenters. I had a space 
cleared in the centre of a thick grove of pines which 
grew in the bottom of an amphitheatre, surrounded on 
all sides but one by precipitous rocks difficult of 
descent. The fourth side was bounded by a lovely 
little lake, on which I was accustomed to have boats 
plying for the enjoyment of my family and visitors. 
As the lake and the whole of the surrounding ground 
was on my own estate, there was no fear of any stran- 
gers gaining access to our romantic lodge, especially 
when I issued orders that no boats should ply at the 
time when we were in session. As our meetings were 
fixed for the evening, I had lamps hung up in the trees 
around the open space, and a temporary shed erected in 
which to keep our instruments of music, etc. 

The arrangements were as nearly as possible mod- 
elled after our lodge-room in town. 

There w^as but one of our London members living 
near me, and that was a fine old French gentleman who 
might have formed a not unapt representative of Scott's 
w Last Minstrel." He was a poet w improvisatore " and 
divine harpist. Several of our other members were mu- 
sicians, singers, and members of an amateur madrigal 
club, to which in my younger days I had myself be- 
longed. Here, then, were all the elements required for 
our seances, save always the officiating priest, about the 
identity of whom I at first speculated with some anxi- 
ety. When the appointed evening arrived, however, I 



302 GHOST LAND. 

at once understood that my young friend, penetrated 
with gratitude for the services I and my family had 
been the happy instruments of rendering him in his 
hours of severest trial, had determined to devote the 
one year of his residence with me to the gratification 
of my dearest wishes, — namely, the interpretation of 
the divine order of being, the profound mysteries of 
nature, and the grand arcana of creation, as revealed 
by the inspiration of the noblest spiritual influences, 
through his own entranced lips. 

For one entire year I and a choice circle of friends 
were the highly privileged recipients of these sublime 
truths, conveyed to us partly in our woody amphitheatre 

at N" , partly in a London lodge, which we had fitted 

up expressly for these sacred meetings, from which all 
but an assemblage of kindred minds were excluded. 

From the first seance, I had fortunately secured the 
conditions by which they could be reported. The 
memoranda transcribed from the phonographic notes 
of one of our party, who kindly devoted himself to this 
service, are still in my possession, and may one day be 
given to the world. Much of the ideality they abound 
with has become filtered through the utterances of other 
inspired media during the new dispensation, but never 
have I read, heard of, or imagined a scheme of divine 
order so grand, so just, complete, and beautiful in all 
its details, as that furnished us by the inspiration of this 
highly-gifted mystic. 

In my plain and homely phraseology I may venture 
to say I think more highly of myself and my kind, the 
world I live in, the scheme of which I am a part, and 
the God who created and sustains me, as I find all these 
elements of being described and explained in these sub- 
lime trance-addresses ; and now, if I have dwelt long, 



GHOST LAND. 303 

fondly, and perhaps with too much minutiae of detail, 
upon the strange events which have served to carve out 
the remarkable character of whom I have written, nay, 
if I have seemed to exaggerate his excellences almost 
to the rank of a hero of romance, it is not because I am 
moved by the deep affection which he has Avon from 
me and all around him, not, as many cursory observers 
have declared, because we who knew and loved him 
were "under the spell of his many attractive qualities,'' 
but because I perceived in him, as in all sensitives, 
mediums, and mystics, idiosyncrasies which if carefully 
studied and classified, would serve as the basis of a 
new phase of mental science, and one of which the 
world stands very much in need. 

Looking back upon my intercourse with the Chevalier 
de B , I find one of the most noteworthy and inter- 
esting examples of abnormal power and spiritual inspi- 
ration it has ever been my lot to encounter, but I have 
also found one of the most striking evidences how far 
the practices of animal magnetism and human psychol- 
ogy can be abused and perverted from their true use to 
become an instrument of ruin, mental imbecility, and 
even madness. 

Happily, my experiences with this gentleman bore 
witness also to the per contra of this fatal position, and 
showed how healthful and elevating pure spiritual influ- 
ences and high inspiration may become, when exercised 
upon a self-centred mind and freed from the interven- 
tion of powerful human influences. 

I need scarcely offer to the intelligent reader and 
comments on the history of this young man's subject 
tion, and the final subversion of all personal identity to 
his erring but devoted friend, Felix von Marx. The 
history conveys its own moral rebuke and lesson. 



304: GHOST LAND. 

The narrative of the " life transfer," mysterious and 
unprecedented as it is, I solemnly affirm I have detailed 
word for word and incident for incident exactly as it 
occurred, as far as I myself apprehended it. The ter- 
rible visions and spectral scenes at the Orphic Circles 
only partially explain the mystery of their origin and 
meaning, but because their awful demonstrations were 
shared with me by many other witnesses, who urge 
me to place them on record, I have fulfilled this task as 
faithfully as an earnest desire to narrate the truth and 
nothing but the truth could inspire me to do. I can 
scarcely expect to obtain credit for my statements, not 
because they are more remarkable or startling than the 
wonders which are now transpiring amongst us every 
day in the annals of the modern spiritualistic movement, 
but because they did not occur in a commonplace way, 
and because there are urgent reasons why I cannot 
openly and publicly vouch for their reliability. I know 
the lack of authenticity which attaches to an anony- 
mous writer, and one so deeply interested in his subject 
as I have been ; still I am compelled and impelled to write. 
I put my narrative into the great cauldron of Time, con- 
fident that the base metals of error and misapprehension 
will ultimately be fused away, whilst the grains of true 
gold will be gathered up and become current coin in the 
generations that shall be; and now, for the present at 
least, my journal in connection with my much esteemed 

friend, the Chevalier de B , must draw to a close. 

Well and nobly has he paid me with gems of inspiration 
and heavenly truth, for all I endured in his behalf during 
our seasons of great trial. 

The time came at length when his highly prized 
ministry was to cease amongst us, and young and old in 
my household, mistress and maid, master and servant, 



GHOST LAND. 305 



» 



looked sorrowfully and with heavy hearts to that to- 
morrow when we should see his face no more. 

The day came when I was to depart for America, my 
friend to India; — I, on a mission hardly known to my 
family, scarcely acknowledged to myself: to search into 
the realities of the much-vaunted American spiritualis- 
tic movement by a tour through the United States that 
I designed should occupy me one year; my friend to 
enter upon those stormy scenes of public life which 
have made for him a name and fame which few would, 
or ever will associate with the dreamy, unearthly mystic 
whom Felix von Marx delighted to call his "moody 
sprite," his "well-beloved Ariel." 

" God bless and keep you, and good angels have you 
in charge, my Louis ! " I muttered, between the spasms 
of nose-blowing and eyes-wiping, as I stood waving a 
very damp handkerchief on the wharf from which a 
splendid East Indiaman was setting sail on the day 
when I took leave of my friend, — he whom I would 
so gladly, so proudly have called my son, had Pate so 
willed it. 

" We meet again this day ten years hence, my kind 

and generous friend," cried the Chevalier de B , 

returning the salute. 

I watched the white signal waving in the breeze as 
long as my blurred eyes could keep the noble form of 
my friend in sight, and when at last I stood staring at 
vacancy, and suddenly remembered what a spectacle I 
was making of myself to the booby wharf-men standing 
by, I turned away, murmuring, w Ten years ! It is a long 
time to wait, but he will surely come." 



PART II. 



The Adept. 



PART II 



INVOCATION: THE SOUL'S LITANIES.* 

Thou who dost dwell alone, 
Thou who dost know thy own, 
Thou to whom all are known 
From the cradle to the grave, 
Save, oh, save I 

From the world's temptations, 
From tribulations, 
From that fierce anguish 
Wherein we languish, 
From that torpor deep 
Wherein we lie asleep, 
Heavy as death, cold as the grave, 
Save, oh, save! 

When the soul, growing clearer, 

Sees God no nearer, 

When the soul, mounting higher, 

Sees God no nigher, 

But the arch-fiend Pride 

Mounts at her side, 

Foiling her high emprize 

Sealing her eagle eyes; 

And when she fain would soar, 

Makes idols to adore, 

Changing the pure emotion 

Of her high devotion, 

*The beautiful lines here quoted were selected from a spiritual journal, entitled 

The Principle, and sent by the editor some years ago to the Chevalier de B , who 

has ever since adopted them as his favorite expression of prayerful aspiration; he 
also deems them the most appropriate possible prologue to the second part of his 
autobiography. — Ed. Ghost Laxd. 



310 GHOST LAND. 

To a skin-deep sense 
Of her own eloquence, 
Strong to deceive, strong to enslave, 
Save, oh, save I 

From the ingrained fashion 

Of this earthly nature 

That mars thy creature ; 
From grief that is but passion, 
From mirth that is but feigning, 

From tears that bring no healing, 
From wild and weak complaining, 

Thine whole strength revealing, 
Save, oh, save ! 

From doubt where all is double, 

"Where wise men are not strong, 
"Where comfort turns to trouble, 
Where just men suffer wrong, 
Where sorrow treads on joy, 
Where sweet things soonest cloy, 
Where faiths are built on dust, 
Where love is half mistrust, 
Hungry aud barren and sharp as the sea, 
Oh, set us free ! 

Oh, let the false dreams fly 
Where our sick souls lie, 
Tossing continually! 
Oh, where thy voice doth come, 
Let all doubts be dumb, 
Let all words be mild, 
All strifes be reconciled, 
All pains be beguiled! 
Let light bring no blindness, 
Love no unkindness, 
Knowledge no ruin, 
Fear no undoing! 
From the cradle to the grave, 
Save, oh, save ! 



Ghost Land. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE CHEVALIER 
DE B , COOTESTUED. 

RETROSPECT. 

Twenty years, — what a mere breath in time ! A turn- 
ing of the sand-glass, a sweeping over the sky of a sum- 
mer cloud, a sigh, a sob, a tear, such a period seems, when 
we look back upon it and try to apprehend the nature of 
time by retrospection; yet when we gauge it by the 
events which have crowded its onward course, what an 
epoch of momentous interest may not twenty years 
become! To traverse many lands, sound the heart- 
throbs, listen to the inner revealings, and learn the life 
mysteries of many a strange people; to trace out the 
panoramas of a mighty past, whose swift, silent footsteps 
leave no echoes in eternity, yet whose march has left 
imprints which strike the beholders dumb with awe and 
self-abasement as they contemplate the littleness of the 
one compared to the immensity of which that one is a 
part; to plunge into the fields of carnage, steel the 
heart to the temper of the sword, slay and stand to be 
slain, drown the pleadings of humanity, pity, mercy, and 
fraternal love in the thunder of artillery and the rever- 
berations of deadly musketry; to lie amidst heaps of 

(311) 



312 GHOST LAND. 

slain, matching glory against mutilation, and hearing the 
vain boasts of patriotism answered by the shrieks of 
agony and the groans of torn and bleeding humanity; 
to pine in the loathsome dungeon, and risk life, name, 
and fame on hair-breadth escapes; to bask in the sun- 
light of royal favor, and hear the breath of the fickle 
multitude shouting hosannas to a popular name one 
day, and the next to skulk in the shadows of political 
disgrace, and wander without home or land, without 
where to lay a houseless head; to muster all the fires of 
life upon the altar of a vain love, and see them quenched 
into dust and ashes ; to heap up fame and glory, knowl- 
edge and renown, love and triumph ; pierce the mysteries 
of space, — even to the unknowable, — and command its 
legionaries, climb up to heaven and steal thence the 
Promethean fire, plunge into the abyss and master its 
hidden secrets, — to do all this, and then see the piled-up 
treasures fade, sink, burn, consume, grow dim, cold — 
nothing — or at last melt away into a vague memory! 
This may be the sum of twenty years, — the twenty 
years which, to recall in the aggregate, is but a breath 
in time, a turning of the sand-glass, but which to 
live, minute by minute, is all this and more ; for all this, 
and more, formed the sum of my twenty years of life 
after I parted from the kindest, best of friends, John 
Cavendish Dudley, on a London wharf, to sail away for 
the burning land of Hindostan. 

Such retrospects taken in detail are of little use to 
humanity, save as sources of amusement. One, will 
listen shudderingly, and, turning away from the stormy 
picture, sigh for the rest which human life never grants. 
Some "Desdemonas" may weave out ideal heroes from 
the narrative, but still more will divide their interest in 
it with a tale from the New York Ledger or a London 



GHOST LAND. 313 

melodrama. None can know, or ought to know, the 
worth of a single life's experience to any bnt the actor 
therein, unless that life has a specialty in which all man- 
kind can share, and in which the immediate interests of 
humanity are concerned. It is because I have such a 
specialty to offer that I now write. 

I have something that has followed me, or rather 
infilled my soul, through every changing scene, in every 
wild mutation of fortune, — on the battle-field, in the 
dungeon, in the cabinet of princes, in the hut of the 
charcoal-burner, in the deep crypts of Central India, 
and amidst the awful rites of Oriental mysticism, in 
the paradises of love, and the shipwreck of every hope, — 
something which has never forsaken or left me alone; 
something which stands by me now, as I write in my 
sea-girt island dwelling, on the shores of the blue Med- 
iterranean; something which has spoken peace to my 
soul when the storm raged the fiercest and the fever 
burned the highest; something that promises me, not 
a dwelling-place merely, but a sweet home, a long rest, 
and a happy awakening in eternal sunlight, amidst 
friends and love and blossoms that never fade, w when 
life's fitful fever is burnt out" and all is done with 
earth : and that something is the voice of an ever-faithful 
spirit friend, murmuring in my ear, K There is another 
and a better world." 

Love and truth! These are the fruits which the 
bruised hands of humanity can gather from the tree of 
>iritual life which grows in the midst of earth-life's 
irren wilderness. Were it not so, I never would have 
ritten these pages; never have opened the vest of 
Le careless cosmopolitan to expose to view the scarred 
-east that throbs beneath it; but knowing as I do 
lat mortal life with all its tremendous pains and pen- 



314 GHOST LAND. 

alties becomes not only endurable, but a boon and a 
blessing, when heaven is the goal, and rest and glory 
beckon us on, so I have determined to pause in the 
midst of my wild career, and give such scattered rays 
of light as I have gathered up to the world that suffers 
as I have done, and that perishes as I should have done 
amidst life's storms and tempests, had I not felt the 
grasp of a spirit hand upon my sinking form, and 
heard the precious whisper of assurance staying me in 
the deepest trough of the stormiest sea. 

Hitherto I have been compelled to make personal 
adventures the vehicle in which strange spiritual expe- 
riences were to be given to the world. The mysterious 
processes of animal magnetism and their silent but 
formative effects for good and evil were, I know, more 
potentially illustrated in my own case than any other 
that I could have cited. 

The " life transfer " which the fanaticism of affection, 
unlighted by the knowledge of immortality, induced, 
and the absolute, personal obsession of a human body 
by a foreign spirit, are items of such a rare and excep- 
tional character, that I have ventured far out of the 
track which I had laid down for myself in dealing with 
the world when I communicate them. Even now, whilst 
I am writing these peculiar experiences, and tearing 
open unhealed wounds for the guidance of future ex- 
plorers, I can see with prophetic clairvoyance the curl 
of many a scornful lip over my narrative; rude disbe- 
lief and reckless denial, some doubt and still less 
acceptance, — acceptance from those who know the 
writer and his unflinching fidelity to truth, acceptance 
from some few others who will remember passages 
of kindred marvel in their own history: these will 
make up the different phases of mind that are des- 



GHOST LAND. 315 

tinecl to speculate over a testimony so painful to give, 
so shocking to see trampled beneath the feet of coarse, 
unspiritual misunderstanding. Yet I did not dare 
grieve the Paraclete of life, who makes me and all 
creatures that have a truth to tell, his messengers, by 
withholding my strange experiences. From this point, 
however, I have but little more to write of myself 
except as an instrument for illustrating the truths my 
life conserves. Henceforth I shall write only of that 
ghost land which I shall soon enter, and to whose stern 
inquisition I shall have to account for every talent 
committed to my charge. Heaven help me to answer, 
w I have done thy bidding." 

Looking back upon a single life, or the life of the 
race as revealed by ethnological science, we cannot 
perceive a foot of land trodden by humanity without a 
circle of luminous haze encompassing it. This haze is 
not the reflection of a dark body intercepting the rays 
of light, but is a light per se, a radiance which proceeds 
from some luminous body, a beam cast from some world 
or inhabitant of a world in which the ordinary rule of 
lights and shadows is reversed. History, tradition, 
prose and poetry, religion and even stern dogmatic sci- 
ence itself, all unite to record the fact of these luminous 
interventions pervading human history; and as we can 
no more have an idea without a name, or a name without 
some idea of which it is the signification, so we have 
given to the ideas which these world-wide, ages-long, 
luminous interventions suggest, the names of magic, 
religion, supernaturalism, and spiritism. 

The last is the only truly comprehensive term that has 
ever been applied in this direction, for magic is the sci- 
ence by which spiritism can be reduced to an art and has 
been peculiar to a few epochs of time, whilst it is meas- 



316 GHOST LAND. 

urably lost in others ; religion signifies only the ideas 
which a special people entertain on this universal realm 
of luminosity; supernaturalism implies something out- 
side of nature, which this thing is not: hence, spirit- 
ism alone defines what it is, because spiritism implies 
the science of spirit, which is what we claim for the 
phenomena under consideration. Spiritualism applies to 
a condition of mind and refers to spiritually-minded 
people ; hence, to my apprehension, the word K spiritual- 
ism" though much more commonly used in this connec- 
tion, is a misnomer. Spiritism, or the science of spirit* 
can exist without spiritists being spiritual; hence when 
I write of the science which treats of spirits, I ask my 
readers to understand me in the term spiritism. Heaven 
speed the day when all spiritists may merit the cogno- 
men of spiritualists now so much abused and perverted! 

Spiritism alone can explain the phenomena of life and 
death, as well as all the extra-mundane sounds, sights, 
monitions, antipathies, and attractions which are not 
explicable on human hypotheses, but which have accom- 
panied the race in all time, varying in character and 
proportion at different periods and also under different 
external influences. 

The intense eagerness with which the archives of 
the past have been ransacked leaves this age in very 
wide-spread enjoyment of the most popular spiritualis- 
tic testimony, ancient, classical, mediaeval, and modern, 
concerning the nature of apparitions, spiritual powers, 
gifts, and forces. It might with justice be asked what 
any fresh writer can have to say on subjects so exhaus- 
tively considered already, and almost the first criticism 
which now greets the issue of a new spiritualistic work 
is, "Pshaw! there is nothing new here. I have known 
and seen all that before." In some instances, especially 



GHOST LAND. 317 

in my own life experiences, there may be this variation 
in the popular cry: "Pshaw! that cannot be true, be- 
cause I have not seen it all before" But for both classes 
of readers there exists a necessity, which is, that we 
should become more exact in defining, cataloguing, and 
labelling the truths we have, and placing them in more 
appropriate niches than the memory or disjointed entries 
of any single generation can afford; hence my present 
task. Follow me who will, in my attempts to execute it. 
Evidently, to me, spiritual existence is the Alpha 
and Omega of being. Matter is only one of the forms 
in which spiritual existence becomes demonstrated; 
perhaps I should more correctly say, it is the formative 
element through which spirit becomes individualized,* 
but as whole libraries of theories are now before the 
world on these subjects, and every theory is supported 
by lists of authorities, whose very names alone would 
fill volumes, let me confine my basic statements to the 
present moment, and sum up what my researches have 
revealed to me in the to-day, and that without attempt- 
ing to erect my column of belief upon the foundation 
of other men's opinions. My facts, and the facts open 
to all industrious explorers, have shown me that the 
universe visible to man is vitalized and permeated with 
animated beings, which correspond in all degrees and 
grades of existence to the varieties of matter, from the 
lowest inorganic atom — if such a finality as an atom 
exists — to the most perfected of organisms, which are 
globes in space, every one of which I believe to be as 
much a living creature as man himself is. The link of 
connection between spirit and matter is force, and the 

* Epr a full analysis of the order of being, a definition of God, the 
scheme of creation, the nature of spirit forces, the fall of man or spirit, 
the origin, progress, and destiny of soul, etc., read the first part and ear- 
lier sections of the author's work on " Art Magic." — Ed. Ghost Land. 



318 GHOST LAND. 

exhibition of force is motion in all its infinite varieties. 
To sum up briefly the order of existence as it has been 
shown to me, I commence with realms of pure spiritual 
life, endless in number, infinite in extent, where spiritual 
essences dwell, — beings without passions, vices, or 
virtues, the Adams and Eves of inconceivable para- 
dises, whose genius is etotocekce. Incapable of 
growth or progress until they have become incarnated 
in matter and individualized by experience, these 
spiritual essences are attracted to material earths, 
where they become the germ-seed of human souls by 
running an embryotic race through the elements and 
all the different grades of matter. 

Thus the seed of soul existence is planted in that 
diffused state of matter known as gas or air; in that 
condition of combustion known as fire; in the fluidic 
state recognized as water; in the solids called generi- 
cally the earth. It also assimilates to the separate parts 
of earth, such as rocks, stones, crystals, gems, plants, 
herbs, flowers, trees, and all the grades of the animal 
kingdom; in short, through all tonal varieties of nature. 
In these successive states spirits are born through the 
mould of a rudimental form of matter; they grow, die, 
become spirits, are again attracted to earths, where they 
are incarnated, by virtue of a previous progress, into 
a higher state of being than they formerly occupied. 
Their bodies are composed of matter, it is true, but 
matter in conditions so embryotic and unparticled as to 
be invisible to mortal eyes, except through occasional 
clairvoyance; and yet they occupy space, and live in 
grades of being appropriate to their stage of progress. 

These grades of being are realms which inhere in 
matter, permeating its every space and particle ; in fact, 
the life of the elementaries, as these embryotic spirits 



GHOST LAND. 319 

are called^ is the life principle of matter, the cause of 
motion, and that force which scientists affirm to be 
an attribute of matter. In hundreds of clairvoyant 
visits made by my spirit to the country of the elemen- 
taries, it was given me to perceive that their collective 
life principle, that which clothes their spirits, and forms 
their rudimental bodies, is in the aggregate the life 
principle of the earth and all that composes it, or that 
mysterious realm of force, which, as above stated, is 
erroneously supposed to be a mere attribute of matter. 
Again and again it has been shown me how the germ 
of soul, through an infinite succession of births, lives, 
deaths, and incarnations in elementary existence, at last 
attains to that final spiritual state from whence it becomes 
for the last time attracted to matter, and is born into the 
climax of material existence, manhood. The progress 
of spirit through the conditions of elementary being 
has been explained to me as correspondential to the 
subsequent embryotic periods of human gestation. As 
an elementary it progresses through the matrix of 
nature. As a human being it is subject to a much 
shorter but perfectly analogous progress through the 
matrix of human maternity. The one is necessary to 
the growth and individualization of an immortal spirit; 
the other to the growth and individualization of a 
mortal body, in which the spirit's final career through 
matter is effected. The two states are so perfectly 
analogous that when, after some years of clairvoyant 
practices amongst the Berlin Brotherhood, Professor 
von Marx subjected me to a course of study in anatomy 
and medicine, I was enabled to point out to him in the 
different stages of growth attained by the human foetus, 
the most perfect analogies with similar stages of being 
amongst the element aries. 



320 GHOST LAND. 

The moment the pilgrim spirit has passed through 
the embryotic life of human maternity, its incarnations 
through matter are accomplished, and it is born on 
earth with the new function of self-conscious^ss, or 
I should more properly say, conscious individuality. 
Let it ever be remembered that there is no realization 
known to man of the awkward and impossible word 
"annihilation." !N"o particle of matter, no function of 
being can become the subject of annihilation. Self-con- 
sciousness is the function of the human soul, and individ- 
uality is the result of self-consciousness. Can this 
individuality be lost, this self-consciousness be ever 
quenched? Impossible! Quoting from a lecture by 
Emma Hardinge Britten on this subject, I re-echo her 
unanswerable argument for immortality, — ay, eternal 
being, — when she says, w Could you alter, change, or 
impinge upon that individualism which enables each 
human being to say I am, you find annihilation; for 
self-consciousness is individuality, and individuality is 
the distinguishing characteristic of human life ; so when 
man has attained individuality he has attained immor- 
tality, for you can no more annihilate a function than 
you can an atom." 

After the death of the mortal body the soul commences 
a fresh series of pilgrimages, starting from the exact 
grade of progress it has attained through its incarnations 
in matter ; but its progress now is as a spirit, with the 
memory, individuality, and identity it has gained in its 
incarnations through the rudimental states of matter. 
Born at last as a soul, its new states or series of pro- 
gressions commence in the spirit nspheres, where every 
grade of spiritual unfoldment and future progress is 
amply provided for. 

To my dim apprehension, and in view of my long years 



GHOST LAND. 321 

of wandering through spirit spheres, where teaching 
spirits and blessed angels guided my soul's ardent 
explorations, this brief summary of our pre^existent 
states explains all that the reincarnationists have labored 
so sedulously to theorize upon. I dare not touch those 
theories with the pen of satire or rude denial, for those 
who urge them command my deep respect for their sin- 
cerity, humanity, and love of justice; but whilst the 
scheme thus opened up to me explained my soul's origin, 
the universal and reiterated assurances of myriads of 
spirits in every stage of a progressive beyond, convinced 
me there was no return to mortal birth, no retrogression 
in the scale of cosmic being, as a return to material incar- 
nations would undoubtedly be, and that all the demands 
of progress, justice, and advancement are supplied by 
the opportunties afforded the soul in the spheres of spir- 
itual existence. 

In my boyhood's years I had been taught to regard 
spirit as the Alpha only, not the Omega ; taught that it 
was infinite and eternal in essence, but not in individ- 
uality ; that it lived forever, progressed forever, but only 
on the earth : hence, the miserably narrow, almost infan- 
tile theories of materialistic science, to wit, limiting life, 
the great glorious, and eternal boon of immortal life, 
to a mere speck in infinity; to the sand-grain of time 
of which an earthly life is made up, and to the shadowy, 
vague, and transitory organism of matter! With what 
different views of human destiny have I lived since I 
became a spiritist ! Night after night, whilst my body 
was sleeping on the cold dungeon floors of my prison 

at P , where I spent nearly a year; or, as I lay for 

many a dreary hour on the battle-field amidst the dead 
and dying, waiting for some trampling steed to crush 
me out of life, or some assassin's miserecorde to put an 



322 GHOST LAND. 

end to raging thirst and intolerable pain, spirit friends 
have come and waved their kind, white hands over 
me, liberated my struggling spirit, laid my weary 
form to peaceful rest, and carried me through space 
in every realm of spiritual existence to which a frail 
and sinful human soul could attain, until I have stood 
on the threshold of glorious lands, where my eyes 
could perceive the radiance of celestial spheres, the 
memory of whose brightness will warn and beckon me 
upwards forever. 



CHAPTEE XVm. 

THE ASTGEL OF MIDNIGHT. 

For several years after my departure from England, 
I became a traveller through various countries of the 
East, and for the most part was engaged, as stated in a 
former chapter, in the busy and exigeant cares of active 
public life. Few who remember the dreamy somnambu- 
list of the Berlin Brotherhood would have recognized 
in him the stern soldier, earnest statesman, and ener- 
getic worker in many directions. As I considered the 
numerous spheres of activity in which I seemed destined 
to become immersed, I could not but think that Felix von 
Marx had kept his word ; that he had indeed died to add 
his noble manhood to my constitutional weakness, and 
that I must be indebted to the influence of his towering 
spirit for the capacity to achieve an amount of physical 
and intellectual labor under which many a more vigorous 
physique would have sunk. But although I never 
allowed myself even to pause in the career of urgent 
life-work I was pressed into, neither did I lose sight 
of the one great end and aim of my earthly pilgrimage, 
which ever has been to obtain positive knowledge on 
the mystery of the unseen universe. Iliad lived to 
be assured there were many phases of spiritual life 
open to the understanding of man besides those which 
formed the subject of study and practice amongst 
the Berlin Brotherhood. During my residence with 



324 GHOST LAND. 

my esteemed friend, John Dudley, I knew that his 
pure and innocent family delighted themselves in the 
sweet intercourse they maintained with then spirit 
friends. I never joined their happy seances, nor 
sought to impose my restless nature and troubled 
moods upon their harmonious gatherings; but I often 
hovered around them in spirit, and from thance, as well 
as in many less holy scenes, have learned the methods 
of communing with spirits, through the simple tele- 
graphy induced by automatic passivity in what is called 
spirit mediumship. 

I knew too, that without circles, invocations, or for- 
mulae of any kind, my own beloved friends could reach 
me from the far side of that mystic river, on the shores 
of which they had disappeared from my straining eyes, 
but from whence they have all returned, one after the 
other, keeping watch and ward over my stormy life, 
with even more than the fidelity of their earthly care 
and tenderness. 

The beautiful and gracious Constance, my brave 
father, my fair and gentle mother, my young brother, 
and many kind friends and companions who had fallen 
in their tracks, leaving me alone ere I knew the 
strength as well as the weakness of an isolated man- 
hood, — all, all have come back to me, speaking in the 
tones of old, and hovering around my footsteps like 
beams of sunlight as they are ; making me realize 
the full meaning of the sublime words, " the ministry 
of angels." Felix von Marx, too, — he, the very pulse- 
beat of my heart, he has never left me, never failed me. 
In experiences nearer, dearer, and more sacred than any 
besides, he has still continued to pour out upon me that 
deep, unselfish love, which inspired in him the wild 
desire to give his life for me. 



GHOST LAND. • 325 

And yet who will sympathize with or understand me, 
when I own that the apparitions of these precious be- 
ings, with all their varied and ingenious methods of 
unsought, uninvoked telegraphy, could not always sat- 
isfy or convince me of my own soul's immortality, or 
their continued identity beyond a brief span of evanes- 
cent spiritual existence, a transitory state in which that 
identity might be preserved for a while, to be engulfed, 
swallowed up, cancelled again, by the horrible necessity 
of running the rounds of never-ending, material exist- 
ences. I apologized to myself and to my beloved com- 
forters for these morbid fantasies, — fantasies which 
fled like the shadows of night before the sunlight of 
their glorious presence, and yet returned again and 
again to haunt me when my feverish spirit was left to 
prey upon itself. That for which my soul hungered, 
was a grander, broader perception of the divine scheme 
than I could realize from the spheres of being abso- 
lutely known to us. I longed for a philosophy of life 
here and hereafter, to perceive the finger of Deity 
pointing to the beyond, beyond the grave, beyond the 
origin and ultimate of a single life, and I would far 
rather have been assured I should soon " sleep the sleep 
that knows no waking," than to be tossed thus rest- 
lessly on an ocean of speculation without compass, rud- 
der, pilot, or anchor. 

Sometimes I saw, felt, and encountered, face to face, 
my own "atmospheric spirit." I realized no loss of 
physical strength from this mysterious manifestation of 
duality, but it never occurred without impressing me 
with an unaccountable sense of awe, I might almost add, 
a nameless fear, which caused me to shrink away from 
this presence as if I were facing my worst enemy. 
Sometimes this hateful vision addressed me, using the 



326 GHOST LAND. 

language of rebuke, scorn, and irony, and commenting 
upon its relationship to me, like a mocking fiend, rather 
than the astral essence of my own spiritual body. 

The spirits of those I most loved and could have 
trusted, conversed with me and often manifested intelli- 
gence foreign to my own consciousness, and such as 
proved the identity of the special individuals who ren- 
dered it; but that which they communicated failed to 
elucidate the mysteries by which I was surrounded. 

Although they were constantly demonstrating by a 
thousand ingenious modes the fact that a foreign intel- 
ligence addressed me and a halo of unceasing love and 
watchfulness surrounded me, their revelations in other 
respects were slight and inconsequential, consisting for 
the most part of petty items of information, monitions, 
warnings, and prophecies, all of which I soon found to 
be true; yet beyond these and other small platitudes 
there seemed to be no common ground of ideality 
between us. 

I longed, oh, how passionately I longed for something 
higher ! but when I pressed home my urgent pleadings 
for light upon my spiritual visitants, an unaccountable 
weariness possessed me, and compelled me to suspend 
an intercourse which seemed impossible to maintain and 
live. Sometimes the terrible theory of the Berlin Broth- 
erhood recurred to me, and I would be almost disposed 
to believe, with them, that these apparitions were in re- 
ality nothing more than "astral spirits" exhaled from the 
material casket in death, but that the soul was, like the 
body, dissipated into the elements, or else was taken 
up again in fresh forms with which its past existence 
maintained no sympathetic relations. Let me add at once 
that these vague and most miserable theories were sure 
to be refuted almost as soon as formed, for some blessed 



GHOST LAND. 327 

messenger from the life beyond would present itself 
immediately, and after proving how completely my 
thoughts had been scanned, give me slight but deeply 
significant tokens, connecting them with the continued 
life, individuality, and personal ministry of my angel 
visitant, and leaving me, for the time being, firmly fixed 
in the assurance of immortal life and love beyond the 
confines of the grave. Besides the various societies for 
the study of occultism to which I belonged in Europe, 
I became affiliated with many others during my wan- 
derings through the East. 

Like most persons interested in the occult side of 
nature, I had no sooner returned to India, where indeed, 
my earliest days of childhood had been passed, than I 
became fascinated with the extraordinary and preter- 
natural powers displayed by Oriental ecstatics. Had I 
published these pages ten or twenty years ago I might 
have acceptably filled a volume with a record of the 
marvels I witnessed. As it is, every cheap periodical 
has become so redolent of East Indian magic that the 
gamin who polishes your boots in the streets of Paris 
or London, will tell you half-a-dozen snake-charming 
stories in as many minutes ; the smirking damsel who 
hands you a light for your cigar will recite to you more 
tales of exhumed fakirs than she can count havannas 
in her show-case ; and the frizeur who trims your beard 
will descant upon the facility with which dervishes can 
cut off heads and put them on again, how mango-trees 
can be grown in a given number of seconds, or thieves 
discovered by self-locomotive cups and balls. The pub- 
lic mind in Europe has been filled ad nauseum with 
such wonders; but whilst listening to details which I 
have myself beheld enacted with ever-deepening interest, 
taken part in, and spent years in searching out the pro- 



328 GHOST LAND. 

ducing causes of, I do not find this same glib-tongued, 
popular voice of rumor giving any philosophical expla- 
nation of how these phenomena occur.* Of course we 
must acknowledge that their only importance is derived 
from the fact that their causation is occult, and tran- 
scends the power of the most enlightened scientists to 
explain. Even when referred to legerdemain as the 
easiest way of disposing of a problem which science is 
too ignorant to master and too proud to study out, I do 
not find the marvels of Oriental spiritism reproduced 
on any other soil, and as I know they are in many 
instances, at least, indications of the occult forces in 
nature, it may not be wholly uninteresting to touch 
upon the methods which I myself adopted to master 
the secret of their production. 

My first step was to secure the services of two of the 
most accomplished as well as respectable members of 
the fakir fraternity, and having taken all the available 
means at command to attach them to my interest, not 
forgetting to separate them from each other, so as to 
avoid the possibility of collusion or a systematic attempt 
to deceive me, I had opportunity enough to observe many 
of the most astounding evidences of the power these men 
possessed, as well as to analyze at leisure their claims for 
its origin. In each case, as well as in numerous others, 
where incredible feats of preternatural wonder were ex- 
hibited, the fakirs assured me the pitris, or ancestral 
spirits, were the invisible wonder- workers, f 

Again and again they protested they could do nothing 
without the aid of these spiritual allies. Their own 
agency in the work, they gave me to understand, con- 
sisted in preparing themselves for the service of the 

*See " Art Magic," sections 11, 12, and 13. — Ed. Ghost Land. 
tlbid. 



GHOST LAND. 329 

pitris. They alleged that the material body was only a 
vehicle for the invisible soul, the spiritual or astral cloth- 
ing of which was an element evidently analogous to the 
"spiritual body" of the apostle Paul, the "magnetic 
body" or "life principle" of the spiritists, the "astral 
spirit" of the Posicrucians, and the "atmospheric spirit" 
of the Berlin Brotherhood. This element the Hindoo 
and Arabian ecstatics termed agasa, or the life-fluid. 
They said that in proportion to the quantity and potency 
of agasa in the system, so was the power to work marvels 
by the aid of spirits. Spirits, they added, used agasa 
as their means of coming in contact with matter, and 
when it was abundant and very powerful, the invisibles 
could draw it from the bodies of the ecstatics and per- 
form with it feats only possible to themselves and the 
gods. "Mutilate the body, lop off the limbs, if you 
will," said a Brahmin, whom I had also enlisted in my 
service as a teacher of occultism, "and with a suffi- 
cient amount of agasa, you can instantaneously heal 
the wound. Agasa is the element which keeps the 
atoms of matter together; the knife or sword severs it, 
the fire expels it from its lodgement in those atoms; 
put the agasa back to the severed or burned parts 
before they have had time to fester or wither, and the 
parts must reunite and become whole as before." 

It is by virtue of agasa that the seed germinates in 
the ground and grows up to be a tree, with leaves, fruit, 
and flowers. Pour streams of agasa on the seed, and 
you quicken in a minute what would else, with less of 
the life-fluid, occupy a month to grow. Charge stones 
or other inanimate objects with agasa drawn from a 
human body, and spirits can make such objects move, 
fly, swim, or travel hither and thither at will; in short, 
it is through the power of agasa,— -by which I mean 



330 GHOST LAND. 

poece, the life of things, — that all the most intelligent 
Hindoos with whom I studied, insisted that preternatural 
marvels could be wrought, always adding, however, that 
jpitris must assist in the operation, first, because their 
spiritual bodies were all agasa, and next, because they 
had a knowledge of this great living force and how to 
apply it, which they could not communicate to mortals. 

The methods of initiation into these wonder-working 
powers were, I was assured, asceticism, chastity, fre- 
quent ablutions, long fasts, seasons of profound abstrac- 
tion, a spirit exalted to the contemplation of deity, heaven 
and heavenly things, and a mind wholly sublimated from 
earth and earthly things. By these processes, it was 
claimed, the body would become subdued and the quan- 
tity of agasa communicated through the elements and 
by favor of the gods, would be immensely increased. 
It would also be more readily liberated, and under the 
control of spiritual agencies. 

K Behold me ! " cried one of my instructors on a certain 
occasion. w I am all agasa. This thin film of matter 
wherewith I am covered, these meshes of bone that form 
my framework of life, are they not fined away to the 
tenuity of the elements? They hinder not my flight 
through space, neither can they bind me to the earth I 
am casting off." 

He proved the truth of his boast by springing upwards 
from the ground which he spurned with his foot, when 
lo ! he ascended into mid-air, and whilst his entranced 
eyes were rolled upwards, and his lean, rigid arms and 
thin hands were clasped in ecstasy above his head, he 
continued to soar away nearly to the roof of the vast 
temple in which we were. I have already alluded 
in the earlier chapters of this work to the methods by 
which many Eastern ecstatics promoted the "mantic 



GHOST LAND. 331 

frenzy," such as leaping, dancing, whirling, spinning, 
the use of drugs and vapors of an intoxicating character, 
noise, music, and all other methods which might tend to 
distract the senses and stimulate the mind to temporary 
mania. y 

Another and very general mode of wonder-working 
amongst Eastern ecstatics is by illusion, a word which 
but ill expresses the extent of the psychological impres- 
sion which a powerful adept can produce upon a num- 
ber of persons at one time. It is almost impossible to 
describe the methods by which this haze, hallucination, 
or enchantment can be spread over a whole assembly, 
compelling them to see the chief operator in an illusory 
light, and imagine he is visible or invisible, or perform- 
ing wholly impossible actions with wholly impossible 
instruments, just as he wills the spectators to believe. 
Those who are most successful in this species of illu- 
sion are not only " mediums " for spirits, and powerful 
psychologists, but they have a faculty of so enclosing 
themselves in agasa (spiritual atmosphere) that they can 
present almost any illusory appearance they please. 

By way of experiment, some of the best practitioners 
of this singular species of enchantment have, on more 
than one occasion, magnetized me, — I use this modern 
phrase for the sake of being better understood, — that 
is to say, they have whirled, spun, and danced around 
me, pointing their lean fingers the whole time towards 
me, until, when they left me, giddy, speechless, and 
fixed, yet fully conscious of my curious situation, I 
have seen several persons pass without perceiving me, 
and when invited by the fakirs to describe my appear- 
ance, the strangers they addressed have stoutly affirmed 
there was no visible object on the spot of ground 
where I stood. Again, on some occasions, these men 



332 GHOST LAND. 

have not only clothed me, but other persons, with this 
atmosphere of invisibility. They have also caused an 
immense assemblage gathered together in one of the 
temples of Siva, at Benares, to see tigers, lions, and 
other terrific sights, when there was positively no such 
object & at the spot indicated. To perform these acts of 
illusion successfully, the operator must be a good psy- 
chologist, surround himself with powerful bands of 
spirits, prepare his body by a long fast, excite the man- 
tic frenzy by pungent essences and anointings, and thus 
accumulate that powerful charge of agasa which will 
enable his spirit band to work through him as their 
human instrument. When I add that the natives of the 
East, with their slender, lithe forms, and natural taste 
for such exercises, delight to practise the arts of leger- 
demain, until they arrive at a degree of skill wholly 
unknown to the people of other lands, I believe I have 
presented to the curious reader the rationale of all the 
methods in which Oriental marvels are performed. 

Let us not mistake or confound, however, the acts 
of the professed juggler with those of the religious 
ecstatic. The two classes are not only distinct in their 
modes of performance, but in their aims and the motives 
that possess them. The juggler is so by profession. 
He is wonderfully skilful in his art, skilful enough, indeed, 
to impress many an astute beholder with the belief that 
he must be aided by, or in league with supermundane 
powers. Still, those who, like myself, will take the trouble 
to follow his performances carefully and pay him suffi- 
ciently for the information, will find that he is but a 
juggler after all, and that his exhibitions are prompted 
by no higher motives than to obtain. the petty remuner- 
ation which his skill commands. Despite the fact that 
many of the East Indian ecstatics prostitute their remark- 



GHOST LAKD. 333 

able powers to the most abject system of mendicity, 
there are still a numerous class who are moved by far 
higher motives, the culminating point of their incredi- 
ble acts of asceticism and self-inflicted torture being 
the realization of exalted religious aspirations. As the 
most accomplished adepts in Oriental marvels do not 
exhibit their power for alms, except in behalf of the 
temple, lamasery, or monastery to which they belong, 
they do not migrate into remunerative spheres of action, 
like other exhibitors, and their arts acquire a certain 
amount of dignity from their association with the rites 
of temple services. 

It was under the conviction that there were spiritual 
forces involved in many of the wonderful phenomena I 
witnessed, and that, inconsequential as these were in the 
results obtained, they indicated an array of unexplored 
powers yet latent in human experience, that I determined 
to devote one consecutive twelve months and as much 
time as I could spare besides, to the study of this sub- 
ject and a thorough personal experience of its methods 
of procedure. It was with this view that I abandoned 
my pleasant suburban residence at Benares and took up 
my abode with a company of devotees in the gloomy 
subterranean crypts of a vast range of ancient ruins, 
where the spirit of a grand, antique faith pervaded every 
stone and hallowed the scenes which were once conse- 
crated to the loftiest and most exalted inspiration. I 
am bound in honor not to reveal the methods of initia- 
tion by which I graduated into the dignity of a " full- 
fledged ecstatic," under the guidance and instruction of 
self-devoted, self-sacrificing men, who had themselves 
attained to the mastery of the mightiest spiritual forces. 

It is enough to say I became all asceticism; spent 
my time in the prescribed duties, and even exceeded 



334 GHOST LAND. 

in rigidity the discipline laid down for me. My capa- 
city as a " natural magician," so my teachers informed 
me, shortened the term of my probation and modified 
the severity of the exercises enjoined, and amongst 
the Buddhist priests — with whom I studied, as well 
as the Brahmins — would have elevated me to any rank 
in prophetic dignity to which my ambition might have 
aspired. 

Amongst the Brahmins, my lack of caste excluded me 
from priestly office, but my superiors entreated me to 
remain with them, tempting me with prospects of spir- 
itual distinction held out to very few. 

I need hardly say my purpose was achieved when I 
mastered the secret of true occult power. I proved, 
tested, tried, and practised it, and I know that every 
element in being can be made subject to the human 
soul; every achievement of spiritual or even deific 
power is attainable to man. All this, and much 
that I am pledged not to reveal, and which in our pres- 
ent corrupt and licentious condition of society, would 
prove a curse rather than a blessing, and convert the 
earth into pandemonium rather than heaven, I learned, 
proved, tried, and practised. These experiences were 
not undertaken during the occasion of my first visit to 
Hindostan, when the career of military life enjoined 
upon me by my family and connections enabled me to 
devote only a very limited amount of time to such 
studies ; my principal successes in these directions were 
achieved during a second and more recent visit to the 
East, and I only anticipate that period by alluding to 
the results I obtained in this chapter. What I learned 
and the powers I attained to, however, were not cheaply 
or easily acquired. It is enough at present to declare I 
exchanged for the comforts of home and civilization, a 



GHOST LAND. 335 

life of discipline which would make most luxurious 
Europeans shrink back aghast and horror-struck. 

In the inscrutable methods of Providence which 
seem to work all things together for good, I have some- 
times thought I was permitted, if not impelled, to act 
out the desperate attempt at self-destruction induced by 
my frenzy of grief for the loss of my beloved friend, 
von Marx, chiefly to prepare me for the tremendous aus- 
terities demanded of me, ere I could cross the thresh- 
old of humanity and enter upon " the life of the gods," 
at least, in respect to the spirit's mastery over the hin- 
derances of matter. Although, like most persons of 
K mediumistic " or naturally prophetic tendencies, I 
inherited a very poor constitution, it was wonderful 
to me at the time, wonderful to me since to remember, 
with what extraordinary powers of endurance I sus- 
tained the enormous penalties I had to pay for spiritual 
light and prowess. Whilst many other neophytes asso- 
ciated with me failed utterly, and others withdrew 
with broken health, shattered minds, or even yielded up 
life itself on the altar of their vain endeavor, I passed 
through every ordeal like one upborne in the arms of 
mighty spirits, and sustained by a power which I can 
never attribute to merely human effort. All felt, though 
I alone knew individually the power that sustained me, 
and that I was permitted to pass through such extraor- 
dinary ordeals simply to demonstrate the triumph of 
spirit over matter, and the force by which the human 
soul can transcend all the limitations of time and space. 

From the first moment of my arrival in Hindostan, — 
in fact, throughout my whole career, — I have spent my 
life in alternate devotion to spiritual experiences and 
the more material activities of such duties as circum- 
stances impelled me to undertake. Notwithstanding 



336 GHOST LAND. 

the fact that I became immersed in public life, and that 
of the most stormy and exigeant character when I joined 
my father's connections in India, just so long as health 
and strength permitted I never relinquished my spiritu- 
alistic pursuits or researches, nor did I find them incom- 
patible with the routine of other occupations. I was 
frequently obliged to reside in several of the large cities 
of Hindostan and the Deccan, besides spending some 
time with those relations to whom I have alluded in the 
commencement of these sketches, but my "Patmos" was 
a suburban residence near Benares, where I found all the 
incentives in surroundings and association to prosecute 
my favorite studies. 

Throughout the length and breadth of India I ever 
encountered undying witnesses to the fervent faith and 
heartfelt devotion with which the ancient Hindoo cher- 
ished the principles of his religious belief. Every colos- 
sal monument, gigantic pagoda, or stupendous cave 
temple, is an offering, sanctified by the heart's best blood 
of adoring millions, to the fire-gods of antique worship- 
pers. 

Hindostan has of late years been the theme of such 
magnificent word painting and glowing literary imagery, 
that I forbear from the attempt to offer any addition to 
the innumerable accounts already extant of its sculptures 
and monumental glories. Like the performances of won- 
der-working fakirs and dervishes, the splendors of Ele- 
phanta, Ellora, Carli, and Orissa have become popular 
themes in the mouths of literary gossips. 

From the learned archaeologist to the humblest school 
child, the gigantic elephants, colossal sphinxes, mighty 
sculptures, and awful caverns of this solemn old land 
have been canvassed in large and small talk in every 
country of civilization. With throbbing heart and daz- 



GHOST LAND. 337 

zled brain the traveller may wander beneath the shadows 
of the grim idols, the darksome cayerns, the mighty ban- 
yan groves and memory-hannted forests, but the glories 
and wonders of ancient India have been so thoroughly 
popularized by measuring tourists and surveying explor- 
ers that any well-educated young lady from a London 
or Paris seminary will tell you the exact dimensions of 
the Kailasa better far than I could who have spent 
long days and lonely nights wandering amidst its superb 
colonnades of sphinxes and elephants. 

During the hours which I devoted to meditation 
amidst these stupendous relics of a faith which has ren- 
dered its gods immortal by the miracle of its own 
immortal genius, it was not on measurements or styles 
that my mind brooded. I longed to pierce the mystery 
of the inspiration which suggested those sublime struc- 
tures ; to unveil the gigantic spirituality that embodied 
itself in the colossi around me; to know the mystery 
of that central spiritual sun whose Protean forms of 
representation, mirrored forth the lofty imaginings of 
the antique mind from all the grim, grotesque, sublime, 
and wonderfully-varied forms of sculpture around me. 
Sometimes I declaimed in wild and passionate accusation 
against the silent sky and speechless stars, that had 
revealed so much to the seers and prophets of old, and 
yet were so dumb to me. In their solemn brightness 
the ancient priest had been inspired to read the mystery 
of the Alpha and Omega; why were they now so coldly 
unsympathetic to my appeals for light? How still and 
motionless they seemed to my straining gaze! How 
swift, mighty, and powerful I knew them to be under 
the rule of the eternal hosts who commanded and mar- 
shalled them into living rank and file! Here, in the 

midst of those gigantic forms in which the mind of 
22 



338 GHOST LAND. 

elder ages has veiled the secrets of deific being and 
embodied its perception of godlike power and godlike 
dealings with men, is there no vibrating echo of the 
voices which once resounded through these colossi, 
interpreting the mystery of being to rapt and listen- 
ing disciples, — not a tone left to answer my passionate 
and urgent appeals for light? 

During a residence of some months in the province 
of Arungabad and whilst lingering in the ruinous city 
of Dowletabad, I rode over nearly every night to the 
mountain region of Ellora, and frequently remained 
there wandering amidst its silent monuments or shel- 
tering during the livelong night in one of the numerous 
grottos that had once been the abode of the anchorites 
or priests, whose duty it was to minister in the neigh- 
boring temples. 

One night, when I had resolved to return to my resi- 
dence, I lingered at. the entrance of a low crypt, which 
I had fitted up in my own fashion with a couch of sweet- 
-scented leaves and herbs, and where I was accustomed 
to pass many hours of my nightly wanderings. For 
some time I stood gazing abstractedly over the table- 
land which formed the central enclosure of a chain of 
mountains whose cathedral-like masses, towering up to 
the skies in a vast amphitheatre, were pierced in every 
direction with the openings to crypts and grottos, or 
adorned with those colossal sculptures which indicated 
the entrances to the temples. 

The moon shone full, white, and glaring over these 
awful solitudes, more awful by far in the desolation 
which man had left, than in the pristine grandeur of 
nature. It was strange to observe how tremblingly the 
moonbeams lingered around the dark, cavernous mouths 
of crypts .and temples, but never pierced the unlighted 



GHOST LAND. 339 

gloom within, as if her holy light was repelled by the 
mysterious secrets to which those solemn scenes were 
dedicated. A thousand fanciful shapes seemed to me 
to press back her flood of soft radiance, lest the light 
should fall on an arcanum veiled even from the speech- 
less witness of the lamps of heaven. 

My horse, which had become almost as accustomed to 
pilgrim life as his master, had strayed from the large 
grotto I had appropriated as his stable and was quietly 
cropping the scanty herbage of a moonlit plateau. 
Suddenly the sensitive creature raised his head and 
moved his ears with that peculiar action which announces 
an unusual presence approaching, long ere our duller 
senses can recognize it. At the same moment a shadow 
passed across the illuminated ground, and the figure of 
a man appeared, issuing from a cleft in the mountains, 
and for a few seconds lingering, like myself, in ab- 
stracted contemplation of the solitary scene. Presently 
he quitted the spot where I had first observed him, but 
instead of striking the path to the right which led off 
from the amphitheatre of mountains, he came towards 
me, evidently purposing to cross the plateau in the line 
of which I was standing. 

As he neared me I observed that his monastic habit 
and cowl proved him to be one of those ascetics who so 
frequently sojourn amidst these desolate regions, not 
unfrequently spending their lives within the shelter of 
some lonely grotto or secluded crypt. 

I was at no loss to guess the secret of his appearance 
at such an hour, believing that he, like myself, was intent 
upon communion with the spirit of the scene. Desir- 
ing to afford the stranger the same uninterrupted seclu- 
sion which I myself sought, I was retreating noiselessly 
into my hermitage, when he came towards me, with a 



340 GHOST LAND. 

swift and sudden action, and pausing opposite where I 
stood, so that the light of the moon might fall directly 
on my face yet leave his own in shadow, he said in a 
sweet and winning tone, speaking in my favorite dialect, 
the Slien Tamil, "Forgive me, sir, if I congratulate 
you on choosing so fair a night for a visit to this impres- 
sive scene." Ordinarily I would have resented this unwel- 
come invasion on my beloved solitude ; besides, it was the 
well-understood custom of visitors to these deserted cities 
of the dead never to intrude upon the meditations of those 
who must have come there for any other purpose rather 
than that of social intercourse. I remembered however, 
that I had left home late in the evening, and that with- 
out finding time to assume my usual travelling dress; 
hence, that my military attire, plainly enough disclosed 
by the broad glare of the moonbeam, would prove that I 
was no ascetic, whilst my horse in the distance showed 
that I was a mere transient visitor to the scene. It struck 
me at once then, that it was the monk rather than the 
soldier, who might be expected to feel annoyance at the 
presence of a stranger, and besides this, there was some- 
thing so sweet and refined in his pure accent and win- 
ning voice that I could not refuse an exchange of cour- 
tesy with him. Determined however to ascertain his 
right to become my associate, I said, abruptly enough, 
I suppose, w My father is free of this holy city. Is he 
then a dweller within its deep shadows?" 

Without following my lead in the somewhat con- 
strained style suggested by the poetical dialect in which 
he spoke, he replied simply, " Do you see yon black spot 
up there, far up on the mountain side? Nay sir, not 
there — be pleased to step a little farther out into the 
moonlight — there, just where yon dark line divides 
that clump of bushes." 



GHOST LAND. 341 

" I perceive," I said. And I did perceive that he was 
critically scrutinizing my dress, whilst he was pointing 
off to the spot he wished me to notice. 

:? Well, sir," he rejoined, " there is the Dharma Sola 
in which I have found shelter for many a long year, 
when on my return from distant pilgrimages I have 
yearned to indulge that universal weakness to which 
our poor frail humanity is most subject, namely, the 
love of home." 

" Home ! " I involuntarily exclaimed. " Is that hole 
in the mountain side your home?" 

" Even so." 

"You are then — ." I paused, for despite the dark 
shroud which enveloped his whole form and face, there 
was something in the bearing of this stranger which 
would not admit of questioning. 

"I am," he rejoined, in a quiet tone, "a native of a 
distant province, a Vaidya" (one who practises the 
art of the mediciner, the son of mixed castes), "but I 
am drawn hither by sympathy and some other motives. 
I have many deep interests in these mountain caves and 
temples, but the one nearest to the selfishness of human 
nature is the love of home, and in yon hole in the 
mountain, as you so graphically term my retreat, that 
one personal interest finds its satisfaction. Don't you 
love home yourself, or are you so immersed in the 
excitement of your noble profession (pointing as he 
spoke to my sword) , that you would prefer the battle- 
field to the rest of home?" 

"I have no home but the camp," I answered, 
brusquely; "I seek none but the grave." 

"Too young in age, too old in wisdom for such an 
answer as that," he replied, gravely. "Listen: Home is 
the soul's rest, not a locality; it is the scene where the 



342 GHOST LAND. 

wandering Yogee and the sainted Irdlii will find rest 
in the infinite soul; it is the goal of all the self-inflicted 
tortures that fakirs and lamas put upon their miserable 
bodies. Rest in Brahm is the aim which enables the 
Bodhisattvas to extinguish the perfume of the senses, 
the ecstacy of the emotions, the luxury of thought, and 
the sensibility of self-recognition. Home is soul absorp- 
tion in the central source of being ; in short," he added, 
starting, and changing the wild monotone of ecstacy 
into which he seemed to be soaring, back to the simple 
phraseology of the cosmopolite in which he at first 
addressed me, "in short, Chevalier, mask our aims in 
what abstractions we will, whether we pursue love of 
woman or love of God, love of gold or love of renown, 
the goal of our affections, whenever we attain to itj is 
home, and, here or hereafter, our home will be where 
our treasure is. Am I not right? " 

"Pardon me, sir," I replied, without noticing his 
rhapsody, " you called me by a title I am little accus- 
tomed to hear from the lips of a stranger. Do you 
then know me?" 

"You are accustomed to be addressed in military 
phraseology," he replied, at once naming my rank in 
the army. "Excuse my indiscretion." 

" But who is it, then," I cried, somewhat piqued to 
be so completely mastered, " that is discreet enough to 
mask himself, yet unmask me?" 

" The distinguished ones of earth marvel to find that 
the humbler classes look up to them as the ant regards 
the elephant," he answered, in a tone which matched 
the satire of his words; "nevertheless, if it be worth 
your while to know the dweller of you Math, know 
me as Chundra ud Deen. To be more in the line of 
your own civilization, should you condescend to grant 



GHOST LAND. 343 

the request I shall presently make, call me, if you 
please, Byga (mediciner) ; and now for my request." 
He then, in the most careless and off-hand way, invited 
me to visit him in his w hole," which he so pretentiously 
called a Math or circle of huts, such as is devoted to 
the use of a spiritual teacher and his disciples, but in the 
words of invitation he addressed to me, he interwove in 
a pointed way, impossible for me to mistake, the watch- 
word of an association whose solemn bonds had set 
such a seal of secrecy even upon my very thoughts, to 
say nothing of my lips, that I started and shivered whilst 
the words fell on the listening air, as if their common- 
place expression had been the deepest blasphemy. Had 
a peal of thunder broken the stillness of that breathless 
moonlit night, I could not have been more startled than 
to hear those forbidden words. Few there are on earth 
who know of the existence of such an association, 
fewer still who can claim fraternity with it; yet of that 
few, one stood before me now that was inevitably proved. 
Other words and signs were interchanged, yet we did 
not touch each other. It was enough, and without fur- 
ther hesitancy I agreed to renew our acquaintance at the 
same hour and place on the following night; and thus 
we parted, he disappearing in the impenetrable gloom 
of a neighboring temple, I signalling my horse to my 
side and preparing for a midnight ride home to Dow- 
letabad. 



CHAPTER XIX, 

DAWNING LIGHT. 

How the hours lagged! and how wearily I won my 
way through the duties of the day which must elapse 
ere I should again meet with the Byga, — that man who 
seemed so singularly able to medicine my restless spirit 
to peace. In his presence and listening to his wonder- 
fully soothing voice, I had experienced a calm and tran- 
quillity to which I had been for years a stranger. There 
was nothing remarkable in the words he uttered, still 
less could I regard the prospect of a visit to his ,? home," 
as he was pleased to call the hole in the mountain where 
he claimed to dwell, as an inviting one; yet I felt a 
strange longing to be there, and when I speculated upon 
the appearance of that " dark line dividing the bushes," 
which he had pointed out to me, I seemed to see white 
hands reaching from the mountain side and beckoning 
me up its savage and almost unattainable heights. I 
had intended to take some sleep before commencing my 
pilgrimage, but I was detained on business all day at 
Aurungabad, the capital city of the province, and could 
only partake of a late dinner with some brother officers, 
ere it was time to set off on my long ride in order to 
reach Ellora by midnight. I succeeded in gaining the 
ravine by a little after eleven, and having there stabled 
my horse, proceeded on foot to the temples, which I 
reached a few minutes before the appointed hour. 



GHOST LAND. 345 

The moon was obscured by the driving clouds which 
predicated the approach of a storm. The table-land of 
the amphitheatre, around which towered the red granite 
rocks that formed "the great religious city," was desti- 
tute of all signs of life or movement as I approached it. 
Solitude the most profound, desolation the most com- 
plete, cast a spell upon the entire panorama. 

By an impulse I could not account for, unless it was 
the necessity of keeping pace in quick motion with the 
throbbing pulsations of my eager spirit, I moved on 
from point to point, scrutinizing every cleft in the rocks, 
every opening and sculpture, looking for I know not 
what, and striving to find out the meaning of my own 
feverish research. At length I paused before one of 
the most ancient of the cave temples, whose deep re- 
cesses were, as I well knew, to be reached only by 
passing through long rows of gigantic elephants, whose 
effigies I had often before gazed at by the gloomy fight 
admitted through the vast portico or the fitful glare of 
torches.. I knew the interior of that cavernous hall 
thoroughly, and had traversed its colossal colonnades 
again and again, yet now something seemed to repel 
my advance, and make me hesitate ere I took the first 
step onward. In this moment of indecision I suddenly 
recollected that my appointment with the Byga was at 
a spot from which I had strayed away nearly a mile. 

Provoked at my own unaccountable restlessness, and 
fearing lest I might fail in my tryst, I turned hastily 
to retrace my steps, when I was violently seized from 
behind, my arms drawn back and tightly pinioned, a 
scarf tied across my eyes and another over my mouth ; 
and all this was done with such an amount of force and 
incredible rapidity that before I had a moment's time to 
offer the least resistance I was gagged, pinioned, and 



346 GHOST LAND. 

blindfolded, and in this helpless position, with hands of 
iron grasping me on either side, I felt myself dragged 
on in the direction of the temple and through its long 
colonnades until I reached a point where there was a 
slight pause, and the aroma of a damp, subterranean 
atmosphere became distinctly palpable. After this 
interruption my course was always descending, some- 
times by rough steps, sometimes by very narrow, wind- 
ing tracks. Occasionally the passages we traversed 
were so confined that my conductors were obliged to 
advance before and behind me, and again the chill air 
assured me we were traversing vaults or large halls. 
Strange to say, my usual clairvoyance, in this unex- 
pected captivity, utterly forsook me. There seemed to 
be a will stronger than my own operating to crush down 
or subdue my spiritual perceptions, and for some time I 
was too stunned to attempt resistance. In all this long 
descent into the very bowels of the earth I heard no 
other sound than that of my own footsteps. No voice 
spoke, no footfall broke the portentous silence. The 
strong grip of my captors was the only evidence that I 
had companions. Just as we reached a certain point and 
when I realized that I was being forced to descend an 
almost interminable stairway, the idea occurred to me 
that by planting myself firmly on my feet I might at least 
manifest my determination of going no farther. This 
poor show of resistance, however, was instantly met by 
a push so violent that had I not been held by hands of 
iron I should have been precipitated to whatever depths 
awaited me below ; then, as if to convince me of my utter 
helplessness, I was lifted up from the ground, and despite 
the fact that my conductor carried a burden of six feet 
in height with a proportionate amount of diameter, I 
was borne along for some time in the grasp of this Titan 



GHOST LAND. 347 

as if I had been an infant. Happily, as I deemed it, the 
next passage was too low and narrow to admit of such 
a mode of locomotion, and I was again set on my 
feet, whilst the iron grasp of one giant before and another 
behind me, sufficiently advised me of the uselessness of 
further demonstrations on my part. 

At length I experienced a marked change both in the 
atmosphere around me and the ground on which I trod. 
The air became soft, balmy, and perfumed with the 
odor of aromatic essences, and the floor was smooth 
and hard as if formed of polished stones. Presently I 
felt busy hands about me removing the gag, bandage, 
and thongs, and then it was that a sight burst upon my 
eyes such as no language of mine can do justice to. 
I stood in a subterranean temple of immense extent, 
fashioned in the shape of a horse-shoe, the large oval 
of which was arranged as an auditorium, with luxuri- 
ously cushioned seats in ascending circles, on the plan of 
an amphitheatre. The lofty roof was surrounded with 
highly-wrought cornices, sculptured with emblems of 
Egyptian and Chaldaic worship, interspersed with sen- 
tences emblazoned in gold, in Arabic, Sanskrit, and 
other Oriental languages. In the midst of the roof 
which sloped upwards, was a magnificent golden plani- 
sphere, formed on an azure plane, and so skilfully 
designed that the interior of the temple was illuminated 
from the representations of the heavenly host that 
gleamed and sparkled above my head. The walls were 
hewn out of the same red granite which composed the 
mountains of the district, but they were thickly adorned 
with gigantic images of the Hindoo and Egyptian gods, 
surmounted by a border of gorgeous has relievos, some 
of which represented ancient Chaldaic tablets; others 
were engraved with planispheres, astrological charts, 



348 GHOST LAND, 

and scenes in Babylonish, Assyrian, and Chaldaic his- 
tory. At the small opening of the horse-shoe was a sec- 
ond cavern, hewn out of the solid rock, and so designed 
as to form an immense raised platform or stage, on the 
floor of which was spread a carpet of grassy turf, or an 
imitation so finely executed that the difference could not 
be detected. A pair of gigantic sphinxes supported 
either side of this noble rostrum, and an immense image 
of the winged bull of Nineveh was suspended, in all 
probability by magnetic force, in mid-air, between the 
high vaulted roof and the grassy carpet beneath. The 
walls and ceiling of this huge, cavernous stage, were 
otherwise destitute of adornment. A golden hand held 
a scroll suspended over the auditorium, inscribed with 
a word in Arabic which corresponds to Neophytes, 
whilst a similar hand and scroll appeared over the cor- 
nice which served as proscenium to the stage, with the 
Arabic inscription signifying Hierophaots. Ranged 
in a semicircle midway on the platform were seven 
tripods supporting braziers, from which ascended colored 
flames and wTeaths of deliciously perfumed vapors, 
whose intoxicating odors filled the temple. Behind 
each tripod, seated on thrones fashioned of burnished 
silver, so as to represent a glittering star, were seven 
dark-robed figures, whose masked faces and shrouded 
forms left no opportunity of judging of their sex or 
semblance.. Around me, some reclining, some sitting 
in Oriental fashion, but all seemingly engrossed in deep 
abstraction, were multitudes of men attired mostly in 
European, but with some Hindoo costumes. Their faces 
were concealed, however, for they all wore masks. I 
observed that those who had removed the bandage 
from my face had invested me also with a mask, leaving 
my eyes entirely free, and thus enabling me to make an 



GHOST LAND. 349 

uninterrupted survey of the remarkable scene around 
me. 

In all I gazed upon, there was no minutiae of detail; 
all was colossal, distinct, magnificent, whilst every design, 
however vast its size, was executed in a style of the 
most perfect workmanship. The light diffused from the 
gorgeous planisphere of the roof was soft yet brilliant, 
and by an arrangement since explained to me, large 
shafts were so constructed as to communicate with the 
upper air and thus introduce a perfect supply of fresh 
atmosphere even into the deep abysses of this subterra- 
nean chamber. 

For the first few moments of my liberation, astonish- 
ment, delight, and awe kept me motionless. It was 
whilst I was thus gazing around me that I beheld the 
entire assemblage directing their masked faces towards 
me, but from every quarter giving me the signs of 
brotherhood in one or more of the different fraternities 
to which I belonged. I have since learned, and believe 
I then understood, that there was not a person present 
who had not been initiated into one or more of the occult 
societies with which I was myself connected. The 
recognition of this fact placed me at once upon a foot- 
ing of understanding with my companions and indicated 
the line of conduct that was expected from me. There 
was, and still is, an unspoken cipher of signals existing 
amongst certain brotherhoods, far more terse and sig- 
nificant than speech, and this I found in practice with 
my new associates. By this method I learned the spe- 
cial ideas upon which I was expected to rely that night. 
The first was the sentiment of brotherhood extended 
from one particular order to as many as would represent 
humanity at large. The next was an understanding 
that the aim of our gathering was the discovery of 



350 GHOST LAND. 

occultism and our methods of research were to be occult 
likewise. Another piece of instruction was, never in 
the most distant way to allude to the Society or its ex- 
istence, to any of its members whom I should chance to 
meet in the world, the object in this prohibition being 
to avoid discussion on the nature of the intelligence 
communicated. I was required to reflect upon it within 
myself, or, if I chose to adopt its revelations as my own 
opinions, to communicate them to others, not members 
of the Society; also I might allude to the existence of 
such an association and describe its aims, but never 
reveal the names of its members or guide strangers to 
the many scenes where its sessions were held. The 
final charge impressed upon me was to be strictly atten- 
tive to the proceedings, in virtue of which I fixed my 
eyes upon the seven masked and robed figures on the 
platform, who I at first thought were simply effigies, but 
as soon as the whole assembly were seated and in order, 
I observed they arose, one after the other, each one mak- 
ing his sign of intelligence and then resuming his seat 
and moveless attitude. The first command issued in 
this way was for Pythagorean silence during each ses- 
sion. The next required from all, Platonic submission 
to the order during our connection with it. The third 
assured us of divine protection. The fourth apprised 
me in especial, that my most secret wishes were pene- 
trated. The fifth (still addressed to me) promised me 
complete gratification of those wishes. The sixth was 
an universal charge for discretion in the use of the knowl- 
edge I was to receive, virtue in its application, and fra- 
ternal love in its distribution. The seventh sign I am 
not at liberty to explain, but I was advised by one of 
the masked figures near me that propositions for com- 
plete initiation would be given me hereafter. 



GHOST LAND. 351 

During the time that these ciphers were being enact- 
ed, the entire auditorium was becoming enveloped in 
gloom, so that when this part of the proceedings ended, 
I found the light greatly subdued and the radiance of 
the noble planisphere modified to a soft twilight, such as 
would be dispensed by the moon and stars. And now, 
my most imperfect sketch of the fine temple and the 
opening scenes of the grand drama ended, let me essay 
to describe those which followed. 

A deep hush reigned on every side of me, a silence 
that could be felt pervaded the assembly, when I per- 
ceived that the entire of the vast cavern that formed the 
stage at the small opening of the horse-shoe, was melt- 
ing away. "Walls, ceiling, hierophants, silver thrones, 
and braziers, all vanished, and in their place I beheld 
illimitable wastes of what seemed at first to be impen- 
etrable darkness. Presently I observed there was 
motion, an ever-increasing, wave-like motion, and a 
gradually diminishing hue in this thick blackness, 
which became refined into a gray, silvery vapor, and 
at last melted entirely away. Then I saw a boundless 
univergoeliim, in which were represented myriads of 
hemispheres. Above, below, around, stretching away 
into endless horizons, and ascending from thence beyond 
every imaginable limitation, were piled up hemisphere 
upon hemisphere, densely massed yet all separate from 
one another, and all blazing with systems, every system 
sparkling with suns, planets, comets, meteors, moons, 
rings, belts, and nebulae. Millions and millions of these 
systems swarmed through the spaces of the universe, 
yet all differed the one from the other, whilst all moved 
in the same resplendent order, swinging around some 
mighty and inconceivable pivotal centre. And in this 
stupendous scheme of harmony, every newly created 



352 GHOST LAND. 

cluster of fire-mist seemed as admirably adjusted to 
its relative point of space in the universe as the huge 
astral systems with their galaxies of suns, stars, and 
revolving satellites. I saw the spaces of the universe 
divided up into hemispheres, — hemispheres into sidereal 
heavens, — heavens studded with suns, forming systems 
of created worlds in every stage of progression, from 
unparticled fire-mist to the central sun of a perfected 
system. 

I merely thought of the order in which the movements 
of the universe transpired, when I instantly discovered 
that the motions of bodies in space were not, as I had 
deemed them, a mere automatic revolution around a cen- 
tral orb. It is true that each one moved in an axial orbit 
of its own, having direct relation to its solar centre ; that 
its path was circular, and bent or deflected only at its 
points of aphelion and perihelion; but as the observant 
gaze became able to master the details of planetary mo- 
tion, unappreciable at first by reason of its inconceivable 
rapidity, it detected subordinate motions, which impressed 
upon every flying orb the character of an individualized 
life, and showed it to be endowed with an animation of 
its own. These sparkling worlds swam, danced, sported, 
floated upwards and darted downwards, with all the 
erratic mobility of zigzag lightning. Could they be 
really living, sentient beings, — glorious organisms not 
moved upon, but breathing, burning, rejoicing lives, 
acting in the inimitable procedures of fixed law? but no 
more so than the child who wins its way from point to 
point, yet is ever turning to gather flowers and butter- 
flies in erratic divergence from the line of its path ; no 
more so than the man whose fixed destiny between the 
cradle and the grave is checkered by all the turnings 
and windings which a mobile fancy and wandering 



GHOST LAND. 353 

imagination can prompt. Could they be all living 
organisms, and the immensity of the universe be filled, 
not with billions of manufactured automata, but with 
legions of living creatures, rushing through the orbits 
of illimitable space in the joy and glory of life everlast- 
ing? Could our own burning sun and its shining family 
of planetary orbs be all creatures of parts and passions, 
organs and susceptibilities, with a framework of rocky 
ribs and mountain bones and sinews ; veins and arteries 
coursed by the fluid-life of oceans and livers ; heaving 
lungs aerated by the breath of winds and atmospheres ; 
electric life evolved from the galvanic action of metallic 
lodes, threading their way like a gigantic nervous sys- 
tem through every globe ; vast reservoirs of polar force 
generated in the Arctic North and Antarctic South ; the 
brain and feet of the living creature, realms of supply 
for the waste of physical life, in the relation which every 
satellite sustains to its solar centre, and one vast col- 
lective soul in the aggregated mass of soul atoms that 
maintain a parasitical life upon the surface of every 
planet? In the Apocalyptic vision now presented to my 
dazzled sight, every sun, star, planet, comet, moon, every 
fully -formed body in space, in short, was a living being, 
a body and soul, — s physical form destined to sustain a 
transitory material existence, composed of infinitesimal 
physical beings of its own grade and order, — an immor- 
tal spirit moulded and grown through the formative ele- 
ment of matter, destined to survive its dissolution, and 
live eternally as a perfected soul, carrying with it all the 
freight of soul atoms which it has sustained and unfolded, 
like the leaves and blossoms of its own parental germ 
seed. 

I know this thought will seem like the rhapsody oi a 
delirious fancy to those who have not read the universe 

23 



354 GHOST LAND. 

m its occult page of unfoldment as I have, but the time 
will come when the Cabala of existence shall be read as 
an open page. This " madness " will then be accepted 
as true philosophy ; until then, the revelating angel bids 
me write — and I obey. 

And next I pondered on the unknown, perhaps the 
unknowable, central source from which and to which, I 
perceived, every body in space tended, around which 
infinity itself becomes a revolution. I saw that mil- 
lions and millions of hemispheres were swept on in 
paths as strictly orbital as the smallest planet of a 
single system. The whole vast arcanum of the universe, 
then, must move around some definite pivotal point. 

As I reflected, the answer came. The universe of 
matter became translucent, and throughout its illimit- 
able spaces I saw that creation was filled with piercing 
beams from the central sun of being. In a space less 
in magnitude than a degree marked on a child's school- 
map, I might have counted millions upon millions of 
such beams, yet the wondrous constituents of their 
nature were plainly revealed to me. The external or 
visible shaft of every ray was formed of physical light, 
or matter in its most sublimed condition. This shaft 
was lined by a ray of astral light or force, and this again 
by spiritual light, or the element from which is formed 
the imperishable soul. Conceive of the whole universe 
filled with these rays so thickly planted that space 
becomes annihilated; trace them to their source; and 
you will resolve them all back to one illimitable realm, 
into which no worlds, suns, systems, bodies in space, 
spirits, souls, nor men have ever penetrated; where 
thought becomes madness, ideality is lost; from which 
light, life, force, motion, matter, government, order, 
power go forth, but to which nothing that is returns 



GHOST LAND. 355 

again, and know then the source from which those rays 
of living light emanate; know then the central sun 
the body and soul of the universe, the God, of whom 
man cannot even think and live. 

One of my favorite studies at college was the chem- 
istry of the sunbeam, and I have spent many an hour in 
delighted observation of such experiments as discovered 
the constitution, direction, and effect of this marvellous 
agent, in the economy of life, light, and growth; but 
how tame, dull, and insignificant, what mere child's 
play with shells and husks, became the memories of all 
that physical science could reveal, compared with the 
broader, grander vistas of causation, opened up to my 
view, as I penetrated into the arcanum of spiritual sci- 
ence. Could the dreams of the fire-worshipper, then, 
have a better foundation in divine truth than the assever- 
ations of the theologian? asked my questioning soul. 

The revelating angel answered by a fresh series of 
visions. I beheld a single planet, my own perhaps, 
with the light of the parent sun removed, and lo ! as by 
an instantaneous blight, all color, beauty, shape, and 
form ceases. 'Now I behold a world from which the 
heat of the sun is withdrawn, and instantly life is sus- 
pended. A dull, leaden, crystalline death sets in, the 
wheels of being stop short, and being itself is at an end. 

I behold the centripetal force of the sun withdrawn 
from our solar system, and planets, moons, asteroids, 
comets, meteors, and all the array of embryonic ele- 
ments held in solar paths fly off in ungoverned space, 
and become lost in endless ruin. 

I see the centrifugal force withdrawn, and the solar 
system rushing to a point, is absorbed, swallowed up in 
the parent mass, and the parent mass itself becomes a 
mere wreck of worlds. If such are the life-giving, 



356 GHOST LAND. 

life-sustaining potencies of the physical sun, what must 
be the correlative action of the spiritual sun on the 
realm of immortal being? 

If such is the actual physical relation of the sun of 
our system to the world, and to the forms which it has 
sown in the garden of the skies, what may we not 
dream of, and aspire to know, when in future ages of 
progression we may ascend to the heaven of heavens, 
and comprehend the mystery of God ! Again I saw the 
universe outrolled and upon its shining surface worlds, 
with all their freight of material life, vitalized by force 
and inspired by spirit; and this trinity of being ranged 
from the gelatinous masses that floated in ancient seas 
to the sparkling suns that blazed and burned in the 
depths of sidereal heavens. 

With each fresh phase of the vision, fresh questions 
rose like waves in the surging sea of my storm-tossed 
mind. 

To the next craving appeal for " light, more light," 
came stealing on my senses the tones of this mild re- 
buke : K Seek not, child, to compass eternity in a single 
hour of time. Be patient, and all shall be revealed, 
which is good for thee to know." For many and 
many a night, during many succeeding weeks of almost 
ecstatic life, these precious promises were kept to me 
by revelations of a similar character to that which I 
have noted down, and that, not in language worthy of 
the sublime and stupendous light that poured in on my 
soul, but in the simplest, plainest phrases, I could sum- 
mon to my aid. As all language is unworthy when 
matched against thoughts which speech fails to inter- 
pret, so do I employ a form of expression so rude, that 
my utter powerlessness will be shown in every line I 
write. Enough that the themes which an Apocalyptic 



GHOST LAND. 357 

angel alone could demonstrate, were shown to me in 
those magnificent visions, until a complete cosmic scheme 
was revealed, of which the following may be named as 
some of the subjects treated of. "World building and 
builders, constitution of the solar universe. Of gods, 
men, spirits, angels, the fall, growth, and reconstruction 
of the spirit. The realm and destiny of souls. Light, 
heat, physical, astral, and spiritual light. The human 
soul, its powers, possibilities, forces, and destiny. Will; 
occult and magical powers, forces, and objects. The 
relation and influence of planetary bodies upon each 
other; the human mind, the necessity of theological 
myths. The permanence of being, cycles of time, 
cyclones of storm and sunshine in human life, etc. etc. 
etc. 

Of these stupendous themes the treatment was ever 
grand, original, bold, and conclusive. 

A scheme was presented, upon which, as I now sol- 
emnly believe and hope, the foundations of a new, true, 
and religious science and scientific religion will yet be 
upreared. The thoughts which shone in resplendent 
imagery before the eyes of my associates and myself a 
quarter of a century ago, have gradually been leavening 
the lump of civilized society during that whole period 
of time. They have been seen in vision, felt in soul, 
and taught in isolated fragments by many a solitary pio- 
neer of tfye new church that shall be ; but chiefly has 
their influence been realized as the radiation of an un- 
known force, whose subtile potencies are making for 
themselves a lever of public opinion, a giant whose will 
is sufficient to raise up every stone in the new temple 
and put them all in place, a concrete and glorious whole, 
when the stones of thought shall have been hewn each 
in its separate quarry, when every stone shall be fair 



358 OHOST LAND. 

and square and true, and ready in its separate perfec- 
tion to form a part of the sublime erection. That the 
midnight assemblies gathered together in the subterra- 
nean vaults of one of the most ancient of ancient India's 
cave temples has had its share in leavening the mass of 
public opinion in the nineteenth century, I know, by the 
experience of better soldiers in the army of metaphysi- 
cal progress than myself; but as no mortal tongue or 
pen can do justice to the gorgeous imagery with which 
it was our great privilege to be favored, as these mere 
magazine sketches, moreover, are not the fit channels 
for the publication of the glowing ideality which these 
visionary representations inspired, I shall presently dis- 
close to my readers the singular modus operandi by 
which the visions of our fraternity were impressed on 
the recipients, and write of them no more. 

At the close of the first grand drama enacted before 
my eyes, I suddenly felt the encompassing arms of 
strangers tying my hands and fastening thick bandages 
over my face. This time I had no desire to resist the 
movements of my captors; on the contrary, I rose at 
their touch and suffered them to reconduct me through 
another series of passages, for such I had instinctive 
reasons for knowing was my mode of exit, until we 
reached a very distant point of the amphitheatre of 
mountains from that at which we had entered. The 
bandages were removed as rapidly and noiselessly as 
they had been adjusted; but my conductors were gone 
before I had fairly recovered my sense of liberty. They 
left me with the mask I had worn in my hands and a 
strip of paper attached to it, on which were inscribed 
in fine Sanskrit characters these words : w The night 
after to-morrow at 12 midnight. Chundra ud DeenP 

Who can doubt that I was faithful to my appointment? 



GHOST LAND. 359 

and I deemed myself sufficiently rewarded when I 
gained the plateau to see the tall form and monastic 
robes of my mysterious acquaintance there before me. 
He greeted me with warmth and the peculiarly sweet 
courtesy which had distinguished his manner at our first 
interview. Before I could make any inquiry concern- 
ing his agency in my late adventure, he spoke of it, 
with apologies for the rough mode of my first initia- 
tion. He gave me ample reasons for the mystery in 
which it was deemed necessary to veil the entrances 
to those vast crypts and subterranean retreats, which I 
well knew undermined so many of the ancient temples 
and not unfrequently exceeded in size and grandeur the 
superstructures themselves. He informed me that my 
true initiation was to take place that night, provided I 
was sufficiently interested in what I had seen to desire 
association with the fraternity I had visited. 

My name, standing, character, and spiritualistic pro- 
clivities were all known to this brotherhood; indeed, 
none ever had been or could be introduced amongst 
them who were not already known and selected for the 
qualities which were in harmony with the association. 
My mysterious friends had the advantage of me at 
every point, but I was entirely willing to trust them, 
and that night saw me a sworn brother of their order. 

Amongst the many items of occult lore I learned in 
that wonderful convention of true spiritual scientists, 
was the singular and original method by which their 
gorgeous dramatic representations were made. 

The whole temple was furnished with fine metallic 
lines, every one of which converged to six powerful 
galvanic batteries attached to the silver thrones occu- 
pied by six of the adepts. These persons, adepts in 
the loftiest and most significant sense of the term, 



360 * GHOST LAND. 

received their inspiration from the occupant of the 
seventh throne, a being who, though always present, 
was not always visible, although as on the first night 
of my attendance a presence from the realms of super- 
nal being was always there. 

The office of the adepts was to centralize and focalize 
the inspiration received. The thoughts of each were 
first focalized into one idea on the rostrum, and from 
thence distributed to every neophyte in the auditorium. 
This universal impression was produced, first, by the 
harmonious spirit of accordance which pervaded the 
assembly; next, by the influence of strong and concen- 
trated psychology ; and finally by the distributive, power 
and force of the galvanic lines extending, as before 
stated, from the rostrum to every member in the audi- 
torium. 

The negative pole of this complete battery was formed 
by the neophytes, the positive pole by the hierophants ; 
and I solemnly swear, as a man pledged only to record 
the truths of that higher realm of being into which I 
have been permitted most reverently to look, that the 
whole of the gorgeous representations enacted before 
my eyes during several consecutive weeks of three ses- 
sions each week were psychological images impressed 
upon the adepts by the presiding angel of our holy 
gathering, and from thence distributed and transmitted 
mentally to the seat of consciousness by psychology, 
and physically by connecting links of electric force to 
every member of our vast assemblage. Let no sneer- 
ing sceptic doubt the possibility of transmitting thought 
even through the physical methods here roughly indi- 
cated. 

Well-practised biologists will never question the pos- 
sibility of the mental action described, except as regards 



GHOST LAND. 361 

the vast number operated upon at once; but on this 
point permit me to assure my readers that no inconsid- 
erable part of East Indian magic depends upon psycho- 
logical impressions produced by single adepts upon vast 
multitudes. The science of illusion — a term which in 
translation but ill represents the original idea — is one 
in which every adept, ancient and modern, must become 
an fait if he would succeed as an K enchanter " or a good 
w magician." The rationale of magic is will or psy- 
chology ; the success of psychology or the operation of 
will depends upon the entire absence of intervening 
obstacles. Thus, if you will a thought to reach another 
at any distance, long or short, your thought will surely 
reach its object, provided it encounters no psychological 
obstacle more potent than itself. Man possesses inher- 
ently the power to effect any phenomenon in or upon 
matter that spirits can do, provided his spiritual forces 
encounter no cross currents of magnetism, no opposing 
lines of force. The potencies of will have been exalted, 
known, felt, and practised by the mystics, magians, 
seers, and prophets of all ages. "Why will ever fails 
to accomplish its ends arises from the fact that thou- 
sands, perhaps millions, of other wills are traversing 
space in opposing lines and contrary currents, and so 
the force of one will, which might else prove irresistible 
if directed under carefully arranged conditions and suf- 
fered to operate unhindered upon its object, becomes 
thwarted, and a single failure of this kind will be imme- 
diately quoted as an illustration of the hollow preten- 
sions which psychologists make for the sovereign potency 
of will. The association of which I have been speak- 
ing originated centuries ago, in a keen perception, on the 
part of one mighty metaphysician, that the powers and 
forces of the human soul might be so concentred as to 



362 GHOST LAND. 

imitate the creative action, and give an actual sensuous 
embodiment to ideas. I shall not here enter into the 
results of experiments persevered in, as I have hinted, 
during centuries of time with varying success, — success 
proportioned to the excellence or indifference of the sub- 
jects by whom they were conducted. 

The discovery and application of electric force as a 
means of stimulating mental power, created a complete 
new era in this remarkable fraternity, and urged for- 
ward its adepts to a class of fresh experiments, some of 
which have been of the most stupendous character. 
The privilege of explaining and enlarging upon them is 
not at present accorded to me, otherwise I could more 
than justify the immense claims I advance for the po- 
tency of the human will, especially when strengthened 
by scientific appliances. 

In reference to the transmission of thought by aid 
of electro-magnetism, I have repeatedly proved its pos- 
sibility, nay, demonstrated its infallibility, by experi- 
ments conducted with my friend, Mrs. Emma Hardinge 
Britten. We had already become experts in the pro- 
cesses of mental telegraphy, which we were enabled to 
practise with invariable success ; but with the potential, 
although still more material agency of electricity 
evolved from mineral substances, we arrived at a means 
of energizing the subtile though variable powers of 
vital magnetism, which tended to render its operation 
more than ever reliable and uniform. 

In fine, I feel authorized to say that none are quali- 
fied to pronounce a verdict of w unreliability " against 
my statements, unless they have themselves experi- 
mented in the same direction, and that with all the 
advantage of well-prepared conditions. The fraternity 
of which I have given so very brief a description sur- 



GHOST LAND. 363 

rounded their practices with a perfect bulwark of psy- 
chological defences, against which the intrusion of 
unfavorable conditions was impossible. Every member 
of that venerable association was selected for the peculiar 
endowments which its interests demanded. No dis- 
qualified person could, by the remotest possibility, 
have access to its sessions. The psychic rulers were 
not only adepts in the mental force necessary for their 
office, but practical " magicians," whose knowledge and 
experience of the occult in Nature placed her mys- 
terious elements of power at their command. The 
teachings given in that society were derived, not only 
from the cumulative wisdom of the ages, but also from 
the inspiration of higher realms than those of mortality, 
and by researches into those realms through all the 
aids which man's spiritual endowments could supply 
him with. 

Spiritual as well as material science was ransacked 
in search of truth. Practice and theory were deemed 
equally essential for the formation of just opinions, and 
from the profoundest depths of the earth's centre to the 
sublimest heights of astral systems, from the force 
which crystallizes the diamond to that which is supposed 
to rarefy the finest realms of ether, these philoso- 
phers continued to explore the universe in search of 
absolute truth.. They were all Spiritualists in the best 
sense of the term, and their sessions were invariably 
composed of spiritual as well as earthly searchers. 
They were not ashamed of aspirational worship, never 
felt their manhood lowered by the act of prayer, nor 
did they disdain to acknowledge their dependence on 
higher beings than themselves, nor abstain from solicit- 
ing their protection and inspiration. They believed in 
sacred places and consecrated things, and whilst they 



364 OHOST LAND. 

esteemed and cultivated scientific knowledge as the 
highest aim of the human mind, they ever subordinated 
the mind to the soul, and deemed that spiritual science 
must be the complement to material science, and with- 
out the union of the two, the body and soul of true 
knowledge could not subsist. Neophytes on first en- 
trance, indeed so long as it was deemed desirable, were 
appointed teachers, who in private sessions rendered 
them all the instruction and assistance they required. 
Such a teacher was assigned to me, and if I had gained 
no other advantage in this admirable fraternity, I should 
forever feel indebted to its leaders for procuring me the 
life-long friendship of Nanak Kai, the noble Brahmin 
to whose learning, piety, and manhood the charge of 
my initiatory studies was assigned. 

During the many subsequent years of steady friend- 
ship that have subsisted between Nanak and myself, I 
have never known him to utter a word or perform an 
act unworthy of the most exalted saint in the Christian 
calendar. "What model religionist can transcend such 
a spotless record? Soon after my admission to the fra- 
ternity of which I write, I became selected as one of 
their adepts, an office I endeavored to excuse myself 
from accepting, on the ground of inevitable absorption 
in other duties and too frequent absence from the places 
of assemblage. The latter objection was overruled in 
a mode which impels me to record the fact of my elec- 
tion to the position of adept. I was induced to accept 
the nomination, after having occupied the seventh 
throne spiritually, on three occasions when my body 
lay sleeping at a distance of several hundreds of miles 
from the scene of assemblage. If my readers shrink 
from this acknowledgment in utter or even partial 
disbelief of its veracity, I can only say they have not 



GHOST LAND. 365 

as yet crossed the threshold of that temple which 
initiates them into a knowledge of their own souls' 
powers and forces. 

They, like me, are immortal spirits, infinite in capacity, 
boundless in power. The only horizon which limits the 
executive functions of their spirits is not so much the 
clog and fetter of a material body, as the lack of knowl- 
edge how to control and subdue that body. So long as 
that body is entirely subjected to the will by abstinence, 
asceticism, chastity, and discipline, it is a mere fleshly 
vehicle, enabling the soul to come into contact with mat- 
ter. The moment the sway of the passions or even the 
mental emotions, compels the spirit to yield to the im- 
pulses of the body, the spiritual reign is ended, and 
henceforth the spirit exercises only a temporary, broken, 
and spasmodic rule over its own transcendent faculties, 
just as " material conditions " are favorable or otherwise 
for that exercise. I candidly present my own case in 
evidence of both positions. 

"When I was first elected to the supreme power of an 
adept in the nameless fraternity alluded to in this chap- 
ter, I was a spirit rather than a man, in the world, but 
not of it. Every function of humanity was subordi- 
nated to the power of my soul and its spirit allies, and 
I scarcely realized, in the midst of all life's active duties 
and pressing cares, that my mortal body was more to 
me than the garments I put on and off at pleasure. I 
do not contend for the naturalness or reasonableness 
of such a condition ; I only claim it is possible and attain- 
able, and I dwell upon it the more forcibly to illustrate 
the complete subversion of those exalted powers when, 
a few short years later, the wear and tear of human 
passion and passionate emotion had enveloped my spirit 
and its exalted transcendentalism in robes of mortality 



366 GHOST LAND. 

more dense and clinging than the garments which now 
shelter me. Be it so ! 

Perhaps the highest perfection of the soul hereafter 
can only be attained through a complete realization of 
the pathetic words, w He was a man of sorrows." Per- 
haps the Magdalene shall win her way to the kingdom 
more readily than the dainty lady who never sinned 
because she was never tempted. In the touching le- 
gend of the Christian God's crucifixion, the penitent 
thief will surely gain that Paradise which the Pharisee 
seeks in vain. And yet I would have gladly lived and 
died a spiritual ecstatic, but the Lord of life had willed 
it otherwise. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

of occultism: its uses and abuses. 

The progress of my narrative brings me to a period 
during which the unhappy land of Hindostan seemed to 
have had a moment's breathing-time granted her in the 
midst of ever-accumulating intestine and foreign calam- 
ity. It was during one of those seasons of false peace 
and hollow truce that have occasionally lifted the war 
demon's hand from the bleeding breast of hapless India 
that I found leisure to cultivate systematically the teach- 
ings which exalted my soul to the gods of antiquity 
and brought me into communion with the holy beings 
that would fill our world with the tracks of angels, did 
we not drive them back with the work of devils. 

Almost the happiest hours of my life were those 
devoted to the sessions of the glorious Brotherhood, of 
whose teachings I have given a slight and most imper- 
fect sketch in the preceding chapter. So long as the 
influence of those seances was upon me I felt as if I had 
been living with gods, angels, and spirits, and as I grew 
more and more familiar with the sublime ideas they 
opened up to me, I became reconciled to the chaotic 
present and hopeful for the inevitable future. Still, I 
realized then, as I do now, when I recall those ecstatic 
communings derived from the heaven of heavens, that 
they measurably unfitted me for earth, and rendered a 
return to its spoliation and licentiousness weary and dis- 



368 GHOST LAND. 

tasteful to me. Yet I knew it was my lot to return, ay, 
and to take an earnest and active part in the terrible era 
that impended, — .a dance of death more gaunt and grim 
than any that had of late desolated the doomed land of 
the Orient. I knew too, by the force of that prophetic 
nature which is the ban as well as blessing of its posses- 
sor, that there was an episode in my life to be passed 
through of a totally different character to any that had 
preceded or could follow it, and though these monitions 
could neither be banished nor modified, they did not 
enable me to avoid the breakers, or steer my life's barque 
out of the stormy sea that threatened to wreck it. Our 
holy seances had closed for the time being. The mystic 
Bygas, the noble Brahmins, and the associated brothers, 
many of them strangers from distant lands, must all sep- 
arate, and depart each on their several ways. The bright 
angels who ministered amongst us would wing their way 
hence to fairer though none the less worshipful scenes. 
The attendant spirits would rise, by virtue of their 
labors in our behalf, another round higher on the ladder 
of progression, whilst the solemn crypts of the ancient 
temples would become silent, deserted, given up to the 
desolation which falls upon every thing and every 
creature where life has been and life is not. 

Of the throng that had assembled in our subterranean 
temple to partake of the sublime teachings there imparted, 
all were scattered like the snows of a past winter, save 
my Brahminical friend, Nanak Rai, and myself. In our 
departure from the neighborhood of Ellora we were 
accompanied by Capt. Graham, a young Scotchman 
whose acquaintance I had made some years before while 
travelling with Professor von Marx, and whom I had 
subsequently encountered wandering, like myself, amidst 
the stupendous cave temples. Some years had elapsed 



GHOST LAND. 369 

since we first met, and time had worked great changes 
in us both, yet we immediately recognized each other, 
and gladly renewed an acquaintance which had already 
ripened into friendship. 

In his own country Capt. Graham was an habitue of 
the best society, not only on account of his birth and 
connections, but also for the sake of his amiable man- 
ners, genial disposition, and cultivated intellect. "With 
a remarkably handsome person, the clear blue eye and 
ruddy complexion of his Highland progenitors, this 
young officer united qualities of mind and physique 
which endeared him to all who knew him. The speci- 
alty which first attracted him to me was his strong 
sympathy with my spiritualistic pursuits, and the fact 
that he was gifted with the peculiar faculty of what 
the Scotch call "second-sight." Having obtained a 
short furlough, he had left his regiment at Allahabad 
in order to make a visit to the famous cave temples 
at Ellora, where I was fortunate enough to meet him 
and become useful in guiding him through the intri- 
cacies of the wonderful ruins with which I was myself 
familiar. 

I perceived that he was no subject for our association, 
the existence of which he, like thousands of others who 
trod over the very ground which our halls of meeting 
undermined, was profoundly ignorant of. Still I found 
him eager and yearning for metaphysical knowledge, 
and an apt student in that school of philosophy wherein 
Nanak Kai was an especial proficient. I presented him, 
therefore, to that learned Brahmin, happy in realizing 
the treasures of wisdom which the young neophyte 
would receive from such an admirable instructor. And 
these were the two esteemed companions who journeyed 
with me to Benares, where the Brahmin resided and 

24 



370 GHOST LAND. 

near which I had made for myself a temporary abiding- 
place. Although there was nothing in our external cir- 
cumstances to create a bond of association between the 
young Scotch officer and myself, I have said it was the 
season of rest and treacherous lull in the political life 
of hapless Hindostan; there was therefore nothing to 
disturb the interchange of the most kindly relations 
between us, or mar the interest with which we entered 
upon the discussion of abstruse points in occultism and 
metaphysics whilst he remained my guest. It was dur- 
ing a conversation of this character, as we lay beneath 
the luxuriant shadows of a clustering palm-grove smok- 
ing fragrant cheroots, that my friend with some hesita- 
tion began to question me concerning the occult powers 
of certain fakirs whom I entertained in my establish- 
ment. 

It was only after a considerable amount of circumlo- 
cution that I ascertained the drift of his questioning, 
and found that he wished to learn how far the magical 
acquirements attributed to these ecstatics could be made 
available in procuring the love of the opposite sex. At 
first, I treated the subject with the contempt and indif- 
ference which I felt it merited; but when I found Capt. 
Graham was not only in deep earnest, but actually pro- 
posed to avail himself of the power which he was so 
curiously seeking to understand, I became considerably 
startled, and asked him, bluntly enough, I suppose, how 
it was possible that a man of his fine mind could pro- 
pose to avail himself of arts so unworthy and for pur- 
poses so base. Fixing his clear blue eyes upon me, and 
without any show of resentment for the unintentional 
severity of my rebuke, he said, " My dear Chevalier, do 
you believe that the exercise of any powers with which 
nature endows us is wrong?" 



GHOST LAND. 371 

"That all depends upon the purpose for which we 
employ our powers," I replied. 

"Granted," he answered; "but suppose nature has 
endowed me with strong psychological powers, would 
you deem it a base and unworthy act if I exerted them 
to induce a return of affection from the woman I love?" 

w I can see nothing unnatural or objectionable in that, 
Graham." 

w Again you grant the only position I contend for," 
said my friend. "Then, wherein can the wrong exist 
of adding to the powers with which nature has endowed 
me, occult powers of a still stronger kind? that is, pro- 
vided the purpose be the same, and that I only seek to 
secure the affection of the woman I love." 

" Does she whom you love fail to return your affec- 
tion?" 

" Just so." 

" And you would compel her to do so, even against 
her will?" 

" I would bend that will to my own, Chevalier ; and if 
I could succeed, do you deem me capable of misusing 
my advantage? I desire to marry a woman whom I 
cannot as yet succeed in inspiring with my own devo- 
tion. Could I do so, how should I wrong her by spend- 
ing my life in ministering to her happiness ? " 

"Graham," I answered, "if you yourself were an 
ascended spirit, freed from all the gross desires and self- 
ishness of earth; in a sphere of higher and holier aspi- 
rations than earth ever engendered; would you devote 
your exalted powers to satisfy the promptings of a 
merely sensual human passion? " 

"By heavens, Chevalier! " replied my friend, starting 
up and pacing the ground in great agitation, " I never 
thought of the matter in such a light. Why, the very 



372 GHOST LAND. 

idea of asking blessed spirits to engage in such a work, 
as you present it, is blasphemy." 

"I am answered, Graham; but where does your con- 
fession lead you to? Do you not perceive that you 
rule out the intervention of good spirits in the acts 
under consideration? and if this be so, what class of 
beings do you suppose would be attracted to your ser- 
vice or willing to aid in your enchantments? " 

w "Wicked spirits, of course, or if not actually wicked, 
still beings of a less exalted grade than I could desire 
companionship with ; but, my friend, you know there are 
powers inherent in ourselves, occult forces, too, in na- 
ture, which could achieve the end desired without the 
aid of spirits. You yourself, Chevalier, have often 
proved your resistless power of will and ability to 
bend the will of others to your desire. "Why cannot 
I use a similar influence to impress the object of my 
affections with sentiments of reciprocity?" 

fr You have constantly tried to do this?" 

"I have." 

" And without success ? " 

? Entirely so." 

w Then you have simply proved what I have so often 
told you concerning the conditions which may interpose 
to hinder the effect of psychological impressions." 

^ Will you not repeat the substance of your theory?" 

"I believe my will, clothed with the force of my 
magnetism, which is lite, powerful enough to remove 
mountains, provided there be no intervening obstacle 
between the current of my magnetism and the moun- 
tain I would act on. You can compel whom you will 
to love, hate, or obey you, irrespective of distance or 
material obstacles, provided there be no cross magnet- 
ism intervening between you and your object, no more 



GHOST LAND. 373 

powerful will than your own operating against you; in 
that case, your will must be thwarted and the currents 
of your magnetism will be dissipated in space." 

" But how can I be aware of this, or, knowing its 
probability, how prevent it? " 

"You can but take your chance. "We are not yet 
clairvoyant enough to be masters of every situation we 
would experiment with. Be assured these baffling 
cross magnetisms, projected from a thousand sources 
unknown to us, are the causes of the many failures 
which occur in just such cases as yours. Successes are 
most frequent when the operator is potential or electri- 
cally positive, and the subject is passive and negative. 
Such is the relation sustained by that worst and meanest 
of all criminals, the licentious seducer, towards his vic- 
tim. He projects his foul psychology upon a negative 
and w r holly unguarded subject. Those around her, 
probably unsuspicious of her danger, exert no counter- 
acting influence, no cross magnetism to thwart his : the 
result is the subjection of the weak to the strong, the 
passive to the negative, an angel perhaps, to a devil 
assuredly." 

K I must accept your positions," replied Graham. " I 
know you have often claimed sovereign potency for the 
will, and yet urged the reasons just assigned why it is 
so successful in some instances, and so inoperative in 
others. Be it so. I must abandon two contingent 
resources then, — the aid of good spirits and the exercise 
of psychological power; but is there nothing left for 
me, — no medicaments in the realm of Nature, no spells, 
enchantments, or talismans whereby her occult power 
may be exerted for my benefit? I know I shock you, 
my friend; you will despise if not hate me for these 
questionings, to me so importunate, to you so lowering 



374: GHOST LAND. 

and contemptible. But, Chevalier, remember you do 
not love, you never did love, nor can you know what 
that name means. Oh! believe me, love is stronger 
than death, more cruel than the grave. All else, — wit, 
wisdom, piety, learning, hope of heaven or fear of per- 
dition, pale before the strength of this giant passion; 
but I see I speak to empty air : you can not understand 
me." 

"You are mistaken," I replied, kindly pressing my 
poor friend's hand, and addressing Trim in the most 
sympathizing tone I could command. "I can and do 
understand you, although no mortal has ever yet moved 
me to the master passion; but the day will come, Gra- 
ham, when I shall be thus moved; nay, more, when I 
shall love, as you do now, in despair and hopelessness, 
in life-long endurance and silent misery ; and yet I would 
despise myself and renounce my art, did I deem it pos- 
sible I could be induced to use it for the unholy purpose 
of captivating the woman I prophetically know I shall 
be doomed to love in vain." 

"You love in vain! you, Chevalier!" exclaimed my 
friend with equal naivete and amazement. " Nay, that is 
impossible." 

" Your partiality makes you egotistical for your friend, 
Graham, neither do you justly estimate the character 
of woman in her noblest, highest phases. What I tell 
you is the truth, and though I have never yet seen her 
of whom I prophesy, except in spirit, I know she is not 
of the class who give men occasion to boast of their 
too easy conquests. The women who are marketable 
commodities are only worthy of the men who buy them. 
For every true man in creation there is a woman who 
should be, nay, who must be and is, his angel side. 
One such I shall fail to win on earth, but gain in 



GHOST LAND. 375 

heaven ; but let us return to your last proposition, con- 
sulting together as students of occultism, rather than 
as men striving to win the affections of women by 
aid of impure arts. Charms, spells, and enchantments 
depend for their success on the aid of spirits and psy- 
chological impression. I have already endeavored to 
show you that the spirits who could or would assist in 
such rites are unholy, and in obtaining their aid you 
would league yourself to them in such relations that 
when you become like themselves a spirit, you would 
find yourself bound to them in the chains of a magnetic 
rapport which would be horrible to endure and difficult 
to break. We have already considered the chance of 
success or failure in psychological impression: what 
other art would you inquire about?" 

"You have not answered me concerning the effect 
of charms and talismans, Chevalier. Is their alleged 
potency only an idle fiction?" 

"See this handkerchief, Graham; it was but yesterday 
taken from the bazaar: what virtue inhered in its fabric 
as it lay exposed for sale?" 

" Surely, none that I know of." 

"As you say, none. But supposing you were to 
place it now in the hands of a sensitive or psychometrist, 
you would find my character and physique, nay, my 
very motives and the most secret intentions of my mind 
impressed upon its every fibre, is it not so ? " 

" We have proved the possibility of such soul read- 
ings. Go on." 

"Supposing, then, I should add to the magnetism 
which already adheres to this fabric, some strongly 
concentrated idea, wish, or purpose: do you not sup- 
pose that idea, wish, or purpose would also be detected 
there? and would not that voluntary impression of my 



376 GHOST LAND. 

mind upon this inanimate substance constitute it a 
talisman?" 

w Talismanic virtue is no fiction, then," cried Graham, 
triumphantly. 

"Be patient," I replied. K Before we speculate further 
upon the possibility of effecting your purpose through 
any occult means, let me lay before you the general 
effect of such procedures ; you may then be better en- 
abled to determine the worth of what you propose. 
You think I do not understand the nature of human 
love. Philosophically speaking, I comprehend it better 
than you do. Love, or the motive so called, is gener- 
ally one of three impulses : The first is * magnetic affin- 
ity,' or a movement of the material atoms which com- 
pose the human body, and these being brought into the 
presence of another set of atoms for which they have a 
strong affinity, impress upon their subject that powerful 
sense of attraction which is commonly called love. I 
insist that the emotion I describe is magnetic affinity 
only, and corresponds to the chemical affinity which 
exists between inanimate atoms of nature. The differ- 
ence between the two modes of attraction is this, how- 
ever. Chemical affinities in atoms are permanent and 
changeless. If you separate the atoms, they still main- 
tain their affinities, and when placed in the same rela- 
tions again will manifest the same attractions; but 
magnetic affinities are not permanent. Their special 
attribute is change, and their attractions are merely tem- 
porary, soon wearing out, and when once exhausted, 
never renewed. The chemical affinity which subsists 
between sulphur and gold will ever be the same. It 
existed ten thousand years ago, and will be as manifest 
ten thousand years hence as now; but the magnetic 
attractions which draw the libertine to the fair face of 



GHOST LAND. 377 

his victim almost invariably end in depolarization; then 
ensues coldness, neglect, indifference, followed by dis- 
like and even loathing; hence it is that many intrigues 
based upon mere passional attraction, have ended, ay, 
and will again, in the intense repulsion which impels the 
seducer even to the murder of his victim. Believe me, 
it is not in idle fantasy that the phrenologist associates 
the cranial organs which impel to licentiousness and 
destructiveness in close proximity to each other. The 
demons of lust and murder are twin brothers, and fol- 
low on each other's track, from the law of which I 
speak. The swing of the mental pendulum which 
prompts the one carries the mind to the other extreme, 
and thus accounts for the aversion which so often suc- 
ceeds the excess of violent and unbridled passion." 

"Admirable, my dear philosopher ! " cried poor Gra- 
ham, almost excited to mirth by my grave analysis of a 
passion which he still insisted could only be known 
experimentally. " You have given me case ~No. 1 ; now 
for your secondly. "What sort of a phase is that, may I 
ask?" 

" Oh ! secondly, is not love at all," I replied. " It is 
simply friendship, and as such it may be an excellent 
basis of union between man and woman, far more likely 
also to remain a permanent sentiment than any evanes- 
cent passion; still, it is not love, and those who unite 
upon such a foundation, although restrained from infi- 
delity to each other by principle, may yet experience 
emotions of love for others." 

!? Very good ! I am with you there. Friendship be- 
tween husband and wife! Pshaw! just the same as 
between man and man. I may and do feel the warmest 
sentiments of friendship for you, Chevalier, yet I do not 
wish to marry you, however I might feel if you were a 



378 GHOST LAND. 

woman. No, no, my Mentor! friendship is not love, of 
that I am quite certain; but now for your No. 3. Ah, 
you sigh! I almost begin to imagine you are more 
committed than you choose to acknowledge. No? 
AVell, that emphatic shake of the head is your con- 
fession, and I must wait until I see you stricken down 
as I am; but come, I long to hear about your No. 3. 
"What is it, I pray?" 

" It is soul affinity j Graham, — the realization that man 
and woman have no actual existence apart from each 
other ; that they are, in fact, counterparts, without which 
their separate lives are imperfect and unformed. Life 
is dual, Graham, and love, true soul-love, is the bond 
of union which reunites the severed parts. It exists 
independent of personal charms or mental acquirements. 
It annihilates self and selfishness ; prefers the beloved 
object beyond all adventitious acquirements; subsists 
through sickness or in health, through good or evil 
report, lives for the one beloved, dies and realizes 
heaven only in the union which death may interrupt 
but cannot sever. Divine spiritual affinity survives 
death and the grave, unites the two halves of the one 
soul, and in eternity perfects the dual nature of man 
and woman into the one angel." 

w Chevalier," replied my friend, cr if you have not yet 
loved, you deserve to ; and thrice blessed will she be who 
can secure to herself the affection you thus describe. 
That heavy sigh again ! Why, you will compel me pres- 
ently to believe you are the rejected one, and I the 
happy lover. But come, my Socratic and Platonic 
friend, you have not yet informed me what effect I 
might expect from the love potions, philters, or other 
approved methods of magical art, of which your famous 
fakirs are the expert professors." 



GHOST LAND. 379 

"My fakirs are occultists, Graham, not Yaudoo charm- 
ers, nor would they be mine much longer if Yaudooism 
were amongst their practices ; but to recur to your ques- 
tion: I answer; though the use of certain drugs, vapors, 
or other physical means might produce a temporary 
excitement in the person upon whom they were exer- 
cised, nevertheless, like psychology or other arts of 
enchantment, the effect is but temporary. They can 
impress, but not create the will; arouse passional attrac- 
tion, but not permanent sentiment. They excite illusions, 
cast spells, induce impulses, but their transitory effects 
are always followed by depolarization and revulsive 
reaction, in which antipathy sets in as proportionably 
strong as the attraction was violent." 

"I see it all," cried my poor friend. "You are a 
severe teacher, but I believe a truthful one ; besides, our 
mutual experiences assure me you are correct. I would 
ha ye risked my life and, Heaven forgive me! perilled 
my very soul to secure the love of her I adore, but the 
bare possibility that she who now tolerates me might 
one day learn to loathe me is too terrible to risk. It is 
enough. There is no hope for me. And now, Chevalier, 
the very lowest depths of my weakness having been laid 
open before you, let us return to our occultism. You 
say it is the magnetism and psychology impressed on 
an object which impart to it talismanic virtue: are 
there, then, no natural talismans in nature?" 

"Thousands and millions, Graham, had we but the 
clear sight to discern them. There are myriads of herbs 
and stones full of virtue to heal, gladden, or sadden us ; 
objects which can and do affect the senses and impress 
the spirit; links of connection between the visible and 
invisible worlds ; and those who, with sapient self-suffi- 
ciency, scoff at these occult forces in nature and think 



380 GHOST LAND. 

to extinguish faith in them by the bugbear word, ? super- 
stition,' are themselves the dunces, rather than those 
who unwittingly believe without being able to prove 
their belief." 

" O my friend ! " cried the enthusiastic young Scotch- 
man, " why will you not lead me into those realms of 
occult power?" 

* Because I am not there myself, Graham," I replied. 
"I have as yet only stood upon tire threshold and 
glanced down the endless corridors of the invisible uni- 
verse. I know such things are. Some of their powers 
and dangers I have tested, but only enough to warn and 
encourage me in yet deeper researches." 

" You know enough," replied Graham, K to explain to 
me what talismanic influence is impressed upon this 
object." 

As he spoke he drew from his vest a small package 
w T hich he put into my hand, but even as he did so he 
started with astonishment and dismay at the effect his 
talisman produced upon me. Had the deadly cobra 
stung me, I could scarcely have experienced a pang 
more poignant. Something unconquerably antagonistic 
to my nature was contained in that package. The face 
and form of a very beautiful woman rose up before me, 
but the most loathsome dwellers on the threshold of 
humanity that ever drove the neophyte back from the 
country of the elementaries would have been more 
sympathetic to me than this terrible visionary woman. 
Almost breathless with emotion, I poured out to my 
friend a hurried description of the portrait — for such I 
knew it to be — that I held in my hand, and the effect 
that it produced upon me, and then the feeling of antip- 
athy gave place to an irrepressible passion of grief as 
humiliating to myself as inexplicable to my friend. 



GHOST LAND. 381 

Meantime doleful shapes flitted before my eyes, wail- 
ing sounds were in the air, and a sorrow as profound 
as unaccountable weighed me down and impelled me to 
push away my sympathizing companion and bury my 
face in the sheltering grass ere I could regain com- 
posure. Bebuked, indignant, and amazed to find myself 
the sport of such incomprehensible emotions, I at length 
succeeded in freeing my clenched hand from the odious 
package, which I returned to Graham, entreating him to 
keep from me all such influences in future. He listened 
to and watched me with evident pain as well as interest. 
He said that I was correct in my description of the beau- 
tiful female whose portrait was enclosed in that package, 
but why her image should be associated with such pres- 
ages of sorrow and excite sentiments of antipathy in his 
best friend he was at a loss to conceive. 

* Graham," I exclaimed, as we arose to separate, w if 
that portrait represents the woman you love, thank your 
guardian angel that your enchantments have failed. 
Better wind around your neck the slime of the boa-con- 
strictor than the arms of that fatal woman." 

"Chevalier de B ," cried the young Scotchman, 

in high wrath, " you shall answer for this ! " Then 
returning, and grasping my hand which he had just 
flung from him, he murmured in his usually affec- 
tionate manner, w Forgive me, Louis, I am a half- 
dazed fool, I know, and as to you — why, you are 
only a mystic." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE A^GEL OE MOROTtfG. 

The sun of Hindostan compels a reversal of many 
of the social customs which obtain in Europe, promi- 
nent amongst which is that of turning night into day, 
an arrangement which the higher classes of European 
society establish on the basis of inclination, but which 
in India becomes the law of necessity, provided we 
would maintain the activities of life without the contin- 
gency of melting out before the duties of the day are 
fully achieved. 

Graham and myself had parted after an 11-o'clock- 
p. m. dinner, and high-noon coffee at twelve. Towards 
the sweet hour of dawning, when both of us had retired 
to the spacious halls which in Europe we are accus- 
tomed to call "bedrooms," but which in this tropical 
land simply signify the place of sleep, or the scene of 
the day's long siesta, after the conversation recorded in 
the last chapter, I sat speculating on the singular influ- 
ence which my friend's talismanic package had exerted 
over me ; on the wonderful calm of the holy moonlight, 
lighting up the sacred Ganges, which washed the 
descending flight of steps that led from the terrace out- 
side my chamber to the river's brink; on the silver- 
tipped minarets, domes, towers, and metallic ornaments 
of temples, pagodas, palaces, and fanes that everywhere 
sparkled with mild and softened lustre in the pale moon- 



GHOST LAND. 383 

light; on the mystery of the beyond; the life, the death, 
the everlasting progress, perhaps the everlasting sleep, 
of the very power by which I speculated ! Everything 
assumed a new idea beneath the transfiguring light of 
the soft and holy queen of heaven; every idea took a 
personal shape beneath the influence of the same tran- 
quillizing power. Suddenly I felt that a new presence 
was near me. In the vast and spacious apartment which 
I occupied, the moonlight, the only lamp I permitted 
that night, failed to penetrate the farthest point or deep- 
est recesses ; it only cast its radiant halo on a circle of 
which I was myself the centre as I lay on a divan placed 
between the open glass doors which led out on the terrace 
overhanging the river. I knew a fresh presence was in 
my apartment, though no sound of footfall broke the 
stillness and no shadow as yet streamed over the pol- 
ished floor, yet it came on, threaded its way amongst 
the groups of statuary scattered through the place, lin- 
gered near the tubs of orange-trees and other tropical 
shrubs and plants that formed arcades on every side, 
and now approached me, penetrated the circle of moon- 
light in which I lay, passed noiselessly around the 
divan, and standing between me and the pillars which 
supported the veranda without, disclosed to me the 
shrouded form and cowled head of 'the Byga of Ellora, 
Chundra ud Deen. 

" My father comes at last," I said, rising to receive 
him. w He is indeed welcome." 

The Byga, for the first time during the many occasions 
that we had met, extended his hand to me. He had 
never before touched me ; nay, he had evidently avoided 
such contact, nor did I wonder at it, for now I took his 
hand in mine it was as cold as death, and sent a chill 
through every fibre of my frame. 



384 GHOST LAND. 

* My son has become my brother ! " said the Byga, in 
his sweet, low voice and Tamul accent. " He is now an 
adept like Chundra. "What can Ud Deen tell him more 
than he knows ? " 

" Much, much ! " I exclaimed passionately, and forget- 
ting, in my desire to become a pupil again, all the self- 
possession and immobile reserve which belonged to my 
character as a fellow-adept. Let it be understood that 
I did not marvel at this man's unexpected presence, nor 
venture to comment on it. 

During my attendance at the sessions of the Ellora 
Brotherhood, I knew Chundra ud Deen was one of the 
adepts. I believe he was an occupant of the seventh 
throne only. I knew he came and went like a spirit. I 
had visited him in his mountain home, but never could 
realize with external sense how I reached or left that 
giddy height. I had never seen his face or touched him 
until that night ; never understood who or what he was, 
save as one who came between me and the light, when, 
where, and how he would, — no more. 

"What would you ask, Louis?" he said; and O 
Heaven ! how the sound of that name, grown unfamiliar 
in my ears, thrilled on my heart, pronounced by that 
stranger ! 

It was forbidden to the neophytes, though not to the 
adepts of the Ellora Brotherhood, to converse with each 
other on the teachings they received. From this prohi- 
bition both Chundra and myself were exempt; hence, I 
knew I was at liberty to press upon him many of the 
spiritualistic problems that now disturbed me. Had I 
not understood how perfectly the power of transmitting 
thought could be practised amongst us, I should have 
been startled to find every question I designed to put 
anticipated and dealt with, even where it was not fully 



• / 



GHOST LAND. 385 

met by my associate, ere I had framed it into speech. 
In the mental contest between us I placed myself in the 
negative relation to my respondent, hence for the time 
being he read and mastered me. We could have reversed 
this position, but we could not both maintain the same 
attitude towards each other. As my questionings on 
this occasion refer to what I have since learned to 
be common problems amongst spiritists, and he who 
answered me did so upon sufficient authority, I will 
here transcribe such portions of the dialogue that ensued 
as may be of general interest to the reader. I inquired 
why the spirits who appeared to me, or at times mani- 
fested proofs of their identity with my deceased friends, 
could not give me more philosophy, higher intelligence, 
and above all, a more perfect description of their lives 
in spiritual existence. 

Chundra replied as follows: "You are constantly im- 
pressed with a morbid anxiety to relieve that class of 
mendicants whom you imagine to be suffering from hun- 
ger, you are often warned that the objects of your 
solicitude are unworthy ; but the thought that any human 
being may be suffering from hunger, transports you into 
fanatical acts of alms-giving. Is it not so?" 

My readers must pardon me for recording the above 
remarks, which referred to a specialty of mine, induced, 
as I well know, by my vivid recollection of the agony 
which hunger inflicted upon me in early life, rendering 
me painfully sensitive on the subject, and ready to com- 
mit any act of extravagance rather than endure the 
sight of any human being wanting food. 

He continued, " !Now, what would you say if on earth, 
as in spirit life, you found that every time you had 
bestowed alms on a necessitous fellow-creature, a flowei 
had spontaneously blossomed in your garden?" 

25 



386 GHOST LAND. 

fp T should require to understand the connection be- 
tween my act and the flower," I replied. 

"You are a successful soldier," he continued, "and 
the men under your command have been efficient on the 
battle-field. Suppose I were to tell you that for every 
drop of blood you have shed, or caused to be shed, one 
of those blossoms engendered by your charity would 
fade and wither away? " I started. " Three days ago," 
he resumed, " you entertained a party of friends at your 
dinner-table. Supposing your real thoughts at the time 
had been known, how much would your guests have 
enjoyed your hospitality?" 

Again I felt committed. At the time of which he 
spoke, I had the most intense desire to be at another 
place, and wished my visitors anywhere rather than at 
my own table. 

" Last night," he went on to say, w you were present 
at an entertainment. How would you have felt had you 
seen, as you would have done in spirit land, the beauti- 
ful lady who smiled on you so graciously, assuming to 
all who approached her the appearance of a deadly 
snake, and your royal host wearing the semblance of a 
ferocious tiger? Look around you! Yon forms of 
stone which your imagination connects with the gods of 
antiquity and the inspiration of prophets, magicians, 
and hierophants, — how would you endure to gaze upon 
them and repose in their midst, should they suddenly 
present to you all the crimes, obscenities, follies, and 
errors committed by countless generations, in the at- 
mosphere which has swept over those images, impress- 
ing them with every shape, thought, motive, or act 
with which that atmosphere was charged? These walls 
now adorned with works of art, — how would you like to 
see them displaying, as they would in spirit land, every 



GHOST LAND. 387 

act of your life, your most secret thoughts, hidden mo- 
tives, and concealed wishes? All grimly hideous or 
gracefully beautiful, no matter which? Could you 
endure this? You were thinking a while ago of a 
return to Europe. Could you comprehend how you 
could be there by the simple impulse of your will, and 
that without steamboats, cars, horses, chariots, or other 
known means of transit? Could you understand how 
you might stand beneath arcades of waving trees, fra- 
grant blossoms, and sunlit skies, yet another stand by 
your side and converse with you, immersed in a pelt- 
ing storm, blown about by fierce winds, or surrounded 
by desolation, barren wastes, and darkness that could 
be felt?" 

* You speak to me in enigmas, Chundra," I exclaimed. 

"And yet I speak of the actualities in which your 
spirit friends live, Louis. All of which I have spoken, 
transpires each moment in the spirit world and form 
the experiences of the spirits that visit you. Their 
gardens are planted by good deeds and destroyed by 
bad ; their banquets are spread and dissipated by con- 
ditions of mental growth and moral excellence; their 
images, pictures, houses, cities, trees, flowers, roads, 
mountains, rivers, scenery, — ay! all that they have or 
gaze upon, are not only written over and inscribed with 
their acts, thoughts, words, and characters, but are 
absolutely formed, shaped, and colored by their soul 
emanations. They go and come by mental power and 
intellectual activity only. They build and destroy under 
conditions of mental and moral achievement, of which 
no human speech can convey an idea. You have vis- 
ited their spheres, seen, heard, and felt the truth of 
much that I now touch upon, and yet you are confused, 
bewildered, and incredulous at what I say. You would 



388 GHOST LAND. 

ask, too, Is there, then, nothing real in spiritual existence? 
Are all things seeming only, — spirit life but shadows? 
Louis, if I confuse and bewilder you in attempting to 
image forth some of the conditions of spirit life, and 
you begin to doubt the reality of anything in a state 
of being far more real than your own, how do you 
expect your spirit friends could converse intelligibly 
with you, or find topics of common interest with which 
to converse about, except such as belong to the earth 
they have left? Do you not see there is no common 
ground for the interchange of thought between spirits 
and mortals? Nothing would be comprehensible to 
you of their existence, whilst, except for your sake, the 
life they have left behind has lost all interest for them. 
Man knows nothing but w^hat he has absolutely experi- 
enced, although he may believe much more than he 
knows through reading and hearsay, yet even then 
he can not appreciate anything that he has not at some 
time or other had connection with, or realized through 
similitude or kindred knowledge. Mortals impatiently 
demand information concerning spiritual existence. -You 
might as well talk to the African savage of telegraphy 
and electricity, or declare what the microscope and tele- 
scope reveal to the aborigines of Australasia, as to ask 
your spirit friends to explain to you the conditions, 
employments, and aspirations of the state of being to 
which they have attained." 

:r Why this new spiritual movement which is now pal- 
pitating through the world then, Chundra? this evi- 
dently systematic attempt of the spirit world to commune 
with mortals, which is now so spontaneously planting 
its standards through every land of civilization?" 

"Humanity must move on," he answered. "It is 
ordained that the world must at length attain to a true 



GHOST LAND. 389 

understanding of spiritual existence, and that the fic- 
tions of vain theological beliefs shall disappear. 

"Physical science has conducted the race up to the 
threshold where spiritual science commences. Louis, 
you know that in this generation is the opening of the 
sixth seal. There is yet another to he broken. Be in 
no haste. God can wait: shall not his creatures do so 
likewise?" 

M The trance mediums of whom John Dudley writes 
such glowing accounts from America and England, — 
they profess to be inspired by earth's great ones and to 
give accurate accounts of that spirit land, to describe 
which you and I find human speech so inadequate." 

K They are sensitives, magnetized by spirits, and .give 
such teachings as the world is able to receive. Fancy 
the most abstruse problems of Euclid reduced to the 
comprehension of the child who has just begun to study 
his multiplication table, and you have by analogy a 
description of the spirit land, as it comes filtered through 
the lips of magnetized somnambules, in phrases adapted 
to the comprehension of children studying earth's mul- 
tiplication tables. As to the great names^so long as the 
world depends upon the authority of great names, great 
names will be in the mouths of those who are as much 
magnetized by their auditors as by the spirits who laboi 
only to give such meat as their audiences require." 

"But all this is deception, Chundra, and unworthy of 
a great religious movement." 

w The world must grow, Louis, and Spiritualism is one 
of its means of growth. Do you inquire how your bread 
is made? Perhaps you would never consume another 
morsel if you were fully answered. Yet you grow and 
are sustained by the result, let the details be what they 
may. This modern movement is but the chaotic reflec- 



390 GHOST LAND. 

tion of the ignorance, bigotry, credulity, and material- 
ism of the age. Still it is the first step towards breaking 
the seals of that apocalyptic age that is even now upon 
us. This step, too, is the most necessary of all that are 
to follow. Man will advance nearer and nearer to the 
spiritual realms, the elementaries will advance nearer to 
man; and all creation, moving upwards, hinges on the 
first step ; this inauguration of the new and breaking up 
of the old order. Be patient ! " 

w Chundra, " I said, anxious to share my thoughts 
with some one who could understand me, K last month 
I visited a village community who were tormented with 
a Bhuta. * The honest people deemed the disturbances 
they, suffered from were all caused by the spirit of an 
evil woman, a reputed sorceress, who had lived amongst 
them, but who had been set upon and murdered by 
Bheels under the charge of having bewitched their chil- 
dren. Directly after this wretched woman's death, their 
own children were waylaid, beaten, and spit upon by 
invisible powers. Their cattle, property, and houses 
were injured, and their clothes torn and destroyed. 
Shrieks, cries, groans, and knockings filled their dwell- 
ings and drove them nearly frantic. The poor villagers 
had performed faithfully all the ceremonies of exorcism 
and propitiation which they deemed necessary, but with- 
out effect ; and when I visited them, the * Headman ' of 
the village was in despair, and the Brahmins they had 
hired to perform the rites of exorcism were despatched 
for a still larger and more powerful band to help them. 
I saw the Bhuta clairvoyantly, and by suffering myself 
to enter the somnambulic condition I could return with 
her to her spiritual captivity. 

*The Polter Gheist or ghost that throws; the haunting spirit of an evil 
or ill-disposed mortal. — Ed. Gjiost Laxd. 



GHOST LAND. 391 

"I found her in the country of the worst and most 
evil-minded of the elementaries who belong to the 
lower conditions of earth, but she did not know any 
difference between them and multitudes of wicked 
and degraded human spirits who had been attracted 
there likewise. The habitations of these wretched 
beings were in a dark, desolate land. Their cities 
were formed of piles of cinders, ashes, and the wrecks 
of worlds. Their occupation was to fashion machinery 
and implements of war as models for mortals whom 
they were compelled to inspire with constructive or 
inventive ideas in this particular department of mechan- 
ical skill; but the elementaries of this sphere were all 
too rudimental in conception to succeed in their work. 
They never made anything complete; they could not 
achieve a single form right, and yet they felt the influ- 
ence and inspiration of higher orders, who did succeed 
in modelling ideas into complete shape ; and these poor 
embryos would therefore keep on trying and trying 
until they died, and progressed to a sphere of greater 
completeness and higher power. But many amongst 
them, in frantic haste and passion, destroyed, broke, and 
burned up their abortive models. 

" I learned it had only been in a recent period of time 
that they had tried to make anything, and that in future 
they were, the best* of them, destined to succeed inim- 
itably. I wandered over their blighted, doleful land in 
many districts; found they delighted to attract human 
spirits, however evil, to them, because it enabled them 
to come into closer rapport with humanity; and though 
they worked mischief and rejoiced in helping human 
spirits to annoy and haunt mortals, they learned much 
in their contact with earth, and would ultimately im- 
prove. It seemed strange to me to see that the human 



392 GHOST LAND. 

spirits who gravitated there did not understand the 
difference between themselves and the elementaries, so 
nearly did they resemble each other. All, alas! were 
stamped with the characteristics of fierce and destruc- 
tive animals, and some, although strictly human, resem- 
bled the loathsome reptiles with whose passions they 
had sympathy. I was told that the demands of earth 
inspire these lower worlds with inventive ideas. The 
rude and half-fashioned instruments they construct are 
man's thoughts in embryo ; hence, when I saw these poor 
antitypes of humanity clumsily trying to draw swords 
through ungovernable fires, and found cannon amidst 
mountains of cinders piled up to the black skies, I 
lamented that I, amongst -others, had ever used or 
required for use weapons of offence and missiles of war. 
If the demands of our bad passions stimulate these 
lower worlds to answer us, what a mighty responsibility 
rests upon us, who are to the elementaries what the 
realms of angelic inspiration are to us! " 

"Did these wretched beings see your spirit, Louis, 
and how did they receive you?" 

" They could not see me, but they felt my presence, 
and they were impelled to acts of worship although in 
rags and ruin, and knelt amidst their wrecked world and 
addressed my spirit as a god. They could not aspire 
to any existence higher than the soul of a pitying mor- 
tal, and my presence amongst them was both felt and 
signified by spirit lights. They wept as they prayed, 
and as I prayed myself, the Bhida became inspired and 
preached to them. She uttered my thoughts, though not 
my words, — perhaps like the world's trance mediums. 
I left them so, for I was recalled to the earth, but I have 
heard since, that the disturbances in the haunted village 
have ceased, and all is peace there again. Chundra, if 



GHOST LAND. 393 

mortals were better informed concerning the condition 
of these ? hells/ could they not elevate the miserable 
dwellers there, and thus save the race of men from 
their evil influence, their promptings to wrong and 
mischief breathed through the atmosphere, and the 
failures which humanity makes through abortive 
effort?" 

The Byga silently pointed to a pair of pistols lying 
on a table near me, and my sword laid across a divan. 

w So long as you demand those instruments of destruc- 
tion," he said, in a low but impressive tone, "poorer, 
more necessitous, and less responsible beings will make 
capital out of the demands of their superiors. Louis 

de B , assure yourself the universe moves en masse. 

One redeemed soul in any department of being pushes 
creation forward everywhere, whilst one who sinks, 
sinks a host with him. Let those who preach, point the 
way by practice. Creation's road is onward, not down- 
ward. \ Man must sooner or later learn to recognize and 
acknowledge the existence of other worlds above, be- 
neath, and around him besides his own; when he does, 
his knowledge will warn him that there are legions of 
beings who rise or fall with Mm. Meantime, the puri- 
fication even of one human soul is triumph enough 
for a lifetime, for, as you say, it is in the realms of evil 
and mischievous elementaries that the hells of humanity 
are found. Elevate the one class of being, and your 
work will create s heart-throb throughout the whole dark 
realms of being." 

"* Chandra, you who know, tell me who is Metron?" 

w A chief amongst the elementaries who correspond 
to the electric and magnetic forces generated in the 
Arctic and Antarctic circles. These regions form the 
brain and feet of the living earth, and sustain vast 



394 GHOST LAND. 

realms of elementary beings who correspond to the 
prevailing influence and quality of their locale. They 
derive their peculiarly magnetic temperaments from 
the regions they inhabit, and react upon those regions 
by filling them with the immense activity of their own 
magnetic natures. Metron is a prince amongst these 
radiant elementaries. 

w Is he himself an elementary? " 

w Not so ; he is a spirit, a tutelary spirit, even as the 
Eloihim of the ancient cabalists were princes or rulers 
in different departments of creation. You, as a caba- 
list, should understand that regions, countries, nations, 
planets, and even the individuals who reside upon their 
surfaces, are under the guardianship of special tutelary 
spirits, of whom Metron, himself a planetary angel, is 
a type." 

w I do understand this, and should be as poor a caba- 
list as my Christian brothers, did I fail to recognize the 
doctrine of tutelary spirits and guardian angels. The 
Christians might find this doctrine fully and even elab- 
orately taught in their own Scriptures, especially in the 
books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Apocalypse. I find 
it in the Oriental as well as the Jewish cabalas, believe, 
and fully realize it; but that which perplexes me is the 
strange fantasy that possesses me of a similarity be- 
tween the radiant Metron and that most beloved friend 
of my soul, Felix von Marx. Sometimes I have half 
imagined Metron might be his transfigured spirit, but 
again I have endeavored to banish this idea, lest it 
should lead me into the realms of fanaticism and hallu- 
cination." 

" Resemblances in the spiritual kingdom are not those 
of the physical form, but mental similitudes. Every 
tutelary angel rules over realms of being imbued with 



GHOST LAND. 395 

special mental or moral qualities, as well as certain re- 
gions of space, and all great leading minds in the spirit 
spheres form the nucleus of circles whose harmony of 
thought or purpose creates a similitude of appearance. 
On earth the wheat and the tares are grown together, 
and all classes of mind, morals, and estate, are hetero- 
geneously gathered into that vortex of life called " so- 
ciety," or grouped together into nationalities. 

" In the spiritual kingdom, Death the harvest-angel, 
separates the wheat from the tares, and ranges the 
specialties which mark human character on earth or 
conditions of progress in eternity, each in their special 
department of life ; each is garnered up in the place and 
association to which he belongs. Felix von Marx, a 
profound student and adept in the mysteries of vital 
magnetism, gravitates as a spirit to those spheres of 
thought which are devoted to the occult in creation, but 
especially does he belong to the realms of force, the mag- 
netism or life of the universe, the all-pervading element 
whose grand reservoir and generating centre upon this 
planet is governed by the tutelary angel, Metron. 

w Speaking to you in the imperfect verbiage of human 
speech, Felix von Marx is one of the legionaries in those 
realms of elementary life of which Metron is the prince, 
hence, he partakes of the similitude which pervades his 
sphere of being. Artists, poets, sculptors, musicians, 
inventors, all classes of mind whose' aggregate makes 
up the order and harmony of creation, gravitate to 
special spheres on their first entrance to the realms of 
spiritual existence ; and until they have ranged through 
all departments of the universe and mastered all its 
separate elements, you see them grouped into circles, 
presided over by tutelary spirits of their own order, and 
attracted to realms of thought where their peculiar char- 



396 GHOST LAND. 

acteristics find the grander fields of culture and expres- 
sion which spirit life affords to the graduates from earth." 

" But Metron is the tutelary angel of the elementaries, 
not of human spirits." 

Of all minds, human, elementary, mortal or immortal, 
who are attracted to the kingdom in which he rules. 
"Look to the north when the pencilled glory of the 
Boreal lights are flaming through the evening skies! 
Look to the silent finger of the magnetic compass point- 
ing out the mariner's path through the boundless wastes 
of ocean, yet ever faithful to the invisible polar brain 
of the earth, fixed in the Arctic regions ! Look to the 
growing tree, the springing grass, the shooting flower, 
throbbing with the silent influence of the all-pervading 
spirit of life. Watch mankind's thronging millions, 
whirled through space with a force which would suffice 
to throw off from the earth's surface every particle of 
matter into unmeasured space, yet gravitation suffices 
to attach all living forms to that surface, enabling them 
to move upon it without the slightest sense of insecu- 
rity. The glorious lights of the flaming Aurora, the 
invisible power of the magnet, and the potential fires of 
life and gravitation, are all but so many phases of that 
one mighty realm of force, generated in the brain 
regions of the polar North and distributed in endless 
lines of radiation through the system of earth and its 
freight of animate and inanimate kingdoms. 

"Looking upon the order of being throughout which 
this stupendous realm of force is the life principle, you 
behold the kingdom of Metron and his legions of mag- 
netic elementaries, whose station is in the North, whose 
sphere is the realm of force, and whose legionaries cor- 
respond to the magnetic and electric life which courses 
through every fibre of this planet. 



GHOST LAND. 397 

"Although this class of the elementaries are still 
embryotic and unvitalized by an immortal spirit, in 
which all elementaries are lacking, they form a bright 
and radiant grade of existence, with high aspirations 
for knowledge, goodness, and immortality. 

" It is a realm of elementary existence of this char- 
acter which is ministered to by Metron, himself a tute- 
lary angel whose nature is in harmony with those he 
rules over, whose deepest sympathies are engaged in 
preparing them for their ultimate destiny as immortal 
beings, and who leaves the celestial regions to which he 
belongs to preach to and teach these subordinate races, 
and help them to attain to his own purified condition." 

: ' Why does the presence of spirits and my efforts to 
converse with them always weaken me physically," I 
asked, "when in intention I would spend my life in that 
communion?" 

"Because spirits can not renew intercourse with earth 
without borrowing from you the life element by which 
they approach you and make themselves palpable to 
your senses. They must rob you of physical strength 
ere they can reclothe their sublimated forms in material 
pabulum." 

"Will it ever be so?" 

"No.- As men grow into spiritual light and knowl- 
edge, they will better understand the methods of com- 
munion. This earth is full of occult forces; trees, 
plants, herbs, stones, minerals, vapors, gases, and fluids 
are all teeming with magnetism. To comprehend these 
forces, draw them forth and apply them, was the art of 
the ancient magian, and will be the next phase of science 
which humanity will achieve. The living forces of the 
body will then be reserved, and -the occult powers of 
nature be substituted as a means of communing with 



398 GHOST LAND. 

spirits. Man will take part in that communion, instead 
of being the mere passive instrument of beings whom 
he does not know or understand, and this will be the 
period when spiritual and physical sciences will supple- 
ment each other, instead of being, as now, arrayed against 
each other by the ignorance and prejudice of man. 
The communion between mortals and those spheres of 
human spiritual existence that have as yet been a,ble to 
manifest to mortals, is but a faint indication of the 
approaches which the earth is making towards the 
inauguration of a new era; a time fulfilled, a judgment 
passed; a dawning day of new life, new light, new 
heavens, and a new earth. Occult science, words which 
at present have but little meaning in the ears of men, 
must be understood, studied, and mastered ere humanity 
can enter the temple of spiritism, or worship in spirit 
and in truth that God who is a spirit." 

The Byga.here made a movement to go, but as he 
did so, he stretched out his hand to me as before. I 
attempted to take it, but felt nothing, and shrank from 
him in confusion, exclaiming, " Have I lost my sense of 
touch, or what is this I would clasp? " 

"As an adept in occult science you should know the 
difference between mortal substance and the still more 
potential touch of force." So saying he grasped my hand 
with a power that would have imprisoned me had I been 
a Titan, then releasing me as suddenly, I saw the 
shrouded form and cowled head gradually becoming 
transfigured. A dimness was on my eyes ; the walls, gar- 
dens, terraces, moon-lit river, and the distant city, with 
its glittering domes and minarets, all seemed to be 
whirling around me with frightful rapidity; the vast 
crystal vault of the heavens, with its sparkling lamps 
and spangled immensity, looked so close to me that it 



GHOST LAND. 399 

might be about to descend and crush me. In the midst 
of this awful chaos I experienced a sensation as if I 
were being lifted up in the arms of some being who was 
all force, and then laid tenderly on the couch from which 
I had risen on the Byga's entrance. 

I became environed in an atmosphere of fire-mist; 
corruscations of radiant lights flashed around me, a 
mingled sentiment of oppression and ecstacy overpow- 
ered me, and yet I was able to perceive a glorious form 
bending over me. For an instant only I beheld the 
divine face of Metron gazing upon me with such love 
as only an angel can feel for its mortal charge ; then, as 
the blinding rays of light which enveloped him vanished 
or faded out, I know not which, the form of my guar- 
dian spirit, still stationary by my side, still fixing its 
eyes of tenderest affection upon me, seemed to become 
transfigured, and I beheld plainly, distinctly, and with 
emotions of the most profound calmness, trust, and rest, 
the noble form and face of Felix von Marx. Many 
words passed between us, words that dispelled the 
mists of doubt and error from my mind, soothing my 
troubled spirit with a foretaste of heavenly peace ere I 
sank into a deep and refreshing slumber. 

If my readers would know what relation this vision 
bore to the strange visitor whom I have named "the 
Byga," I am wholly unable to answer them. I never 
knew who or what this mystic was. I never fully 
understood why, in his atmosphere, spirits could come 
and go like images on the sensitive plate of the pho- 
tographer. He himself, his nature and relation to the 
world of the unseen around me, have formed a part of 
those mysteries which the researches of a single life or 
a single generation cannot master. I have often list- 
ened with regret to statements purporting to emanate 



400 GHOST LAND. 

from the inspiration of " very high spirits," which as- 
sumed to explain all the mysteries of spiritual mani- 
festations, and that upon the ground of material science 
and secularized analogies, simply ridiculous. 

I have read essays of a similar character, claiming to 
emanate from the most exalted dwellers of the spheres, 
and their perusal has filled me with pain and humilia- 
tion. 

In the light of such revealings, the universe of spir- 
itual existence becomes a mere reflex of this human 
world, with all its human conditions, grovelling ideas, 
and limited if not atheistical views of Deity and the 
scheme of causation. 

To my apprehension, the spiritual life beyond the 
grave bears the same relation to earth that the life of 
the embryo during its period of gestation bears to that 
of the infant immediately after its mortal birth, — no 
more. Looking back upon the scenes of my own past 
life, with its various acts of spiritual intervention, I 
confess I can only perceive through the enclosing mists, 
the white hands of angels weaving the woof of human 
life, and feel the supporting arms of spirit guardians 
but half revealed. The longer I live and search, and 
strive to gauge the infinite and eternal with finite senses 
and temporal capacity, the less I find I really know, and 
the more stupendous appears to become the ocean of 
immensity over wiiich I must sail before I can venture 
to offer any chart of the path I have followed to those 
who shall come after me. 

I have written truly, faithfully of the " Ghost- 
Land " through which I have been searching. The " Cas- 
sandras" of life are never believed in, and still they must 
vaticinate. Perhaps it will be so with me. Many more 
will scoff and sneer and disbelieve than strive as I have 



GHOST LAND. 401 

done to find the clue that might explain my strange 
experiences. Flippant egotism may either deny them 
altogether, or offer such silly and secular attempts at 
explanation as deprive spiritual life and science of all 
dignity, religious grace, or holiness; but to me it 
becomes more and more apparent every day that a 
bridge of occult science must span' the gulf between 
the visible and invisible worlds ere man can venture 
to say he knows as he is known. 



CH*APTEK XXII. 

THE ENCHANTRESS. 

The time was fast approaching when I had resolved 
I would make a complete change in my mode of life 
and the sphere of its action. Eight years had passed 
away since I left England, and I had grown so weary 
of military life beneath the burning sun of Hindostan, 
that I seriously contemplated a change of service which 
would enable me to return to my own country and 
scenes more congenial to my early education. I did 
not venture to suggest these proposed changes to my 
Hindoo connections, who built largely upon my contin- 
uance amongst them, as a means of aggrandizing their 
own power and improving my fortunes. 

My relatives exalted my slight successes beyond their 
true worth, and the mere hint of my wish to return to 
Europe was met with strenuous opposition. I had 
another object in view too, and one that was far more 
congenial to me than any earthly chances of achieving 
fame or fortune, and this was the prospect of soon com- 
pleting my term of initiatory probation in a society of 
extremely antique origin, with which it had been my 
passionate yearning to become affiliated. It little mat- 
ters to my readers where the locale of this society is to 
be found, or of what its rites and exercises consist. 

The nineteenth century is perhaps the very coldest 
possible culmination of the materialistic philosophy, 



GHOST LAND. 403 

which has been growing up like a fungus upon the 
civilization of the last five hundred years ; so the nine- 
teenth century is the last which could appreciate the 
objects of an association contemplating amongst other 
ideas, the reversal and obliteration of all theological 
myths, and the inauguration of a true spiritual king- 
dom, in which truth itself will be the Bible, God the 
high-priest, ministering spirits the acolytes, and occult 
science the connecting link between the past and the 
present, the spiritual and the natural world. The very 
few that in this generation are fitted for affiliation with 
this society will be called, as I was, without any pre- 
vious knowledge of its existence; the rest of the world 
may and will seek it in vain. 

I had been called, I repeat, and was obliged to join 
its ranks, but I had to undergo a long and painful 
series of probations ere I could hope to arrive at all 
that that society could confer upon me. I had labored 
and suffered for it, abnegated self, and given up for its 
sake much that renders life beautiful, cheerful, and 
happy. I had given up my very body and soul to gain 
what I sought, and soon, very soon I was to be rewarded. 

As the time for complete realization approached, my 
intense devotion to the idea before me deepened, and it 
was only by a great effort that I could bring myself to 
fulfil the daily cares that pressed upon me, and combine 
together the meshes of the various activities I had 
undertaken, so as to be ready when the time should 
come to devote myself wholly to the work before me, 
and quit the land of Hindostan without one feeling of 
compunction for duties unfulfilled or actions which I 
could look back upon with regret. 

All was progressing under my silent and secret pur- 
pose, when a day arrived, — a day ever memorable to 



404 GHOST LAND. 

me, as that which was to usher in an episode of my life's 
history, the shadow of which I darkly felt, but the form 
whereof I could not discern. 

"My dear friend, I must start for Calcutta immedi- 
ately, — this packet of letters compels my departure 
at once; yet how I grieve to leave you and the delight- 
ful quarters you have afforded me, I can never fully 
express." 

" Wait till to-night, Graham, and I shall be your trav- 
elling companion to .Calcutta, for thither I too must go 
as soon as possible." 

This was the conversation that passed between myself 
and my friend Graham at our breakfast-table, as we sat 
reading our letters on the day which succeeded the visit 
recorded in the last chapter. Besides the business mat- 
ters which summoned me to Calcutta, I found a strong 
impelling motive in a letter just received from my 
esteemed friend, John Dudley, but one which for some 
unexplained reason I ought to have had many months 
before. By a perusal of its contents I learned that 

Mr. Dudley had succeeded to the earldom of D , 

in consequence of the demise of the intervening heirs. 
His elevation to the peerage was entirely unexj)ected, 
and seemed to have had no effect in changing the 
hearty and affectionate cordiality of my friend's char- 
acter, nor had it, as he emphatically assured me, 
wrought any alteration in the feelings of his "dear 
girls, except some little astonishment at their awakening 
one fine morning to hear themselves called the Ladies 
Sophia Edith, and Blanche." He frequently alluded to 
his experiences amongst the Spiritualists of America; 
his unquenched enthusiasm for " the cause, " and his 
abiding faith that I should keep my promise and revisit 
his family at the expiration of ten years from the time 



GHOST LAND. 405 

of my departure. He reminded me that the ten years 
would soon elapse now, adding that I should have a 
good excuse for returning to England, were it only to 
escort back his best-beloved child, the Lady Blanche 
Dudley, who, as he informed me, had been induced to 

accompany her aunt, Lady Emily E , to India for a 

visit of two years. Lady Emily, the sister of the new 

Countess of D , had, in my absence, espoused her 

cousin, the Viscount E , whom I should remember, 

said the writer, w as a sour, unspiritual relative " of his 
family, one between whom and the Dudleys no great 
intimacy had ever been maintained. My friend con- 
tinued thus : " Now, Emily was just one of the best and 
most genial of human beings, besides being a capital 
medium, which is better than all, you know. What 
under the sun could induce this dear sister-in-law of 
mine to wed a prig of a Scotch viscount, and a Pres- 
byterian to boot, none can say except those who are 
more versed in the mysteries of womankind than I am. 
w The fact is, I suppose, poor Emily grew tired of 
lone widowhood, and as my lord was appointed to a 
high position in India, and offered my dear relative 
a handsome establishment and all the privileges of 
Begumship, etc. etc., the thing was too much for the 
aforesaid womankind, and dear Emmy consented to 

become the Viscountess R and depart with her 

yellow-visaged spouse to India forthwith. But that 
is n't the whole or the worst of it, Louis. Would you 
believe it? They have actually carried my little Blanche, 
the very ? light of my h%rem ' and the apple of my eye, 
along with them. Of course you will wonder how such 
a miracle could have come about, and to tell you the 
truth, I have not got over my own astonishment in the 
matter, even now that she has been gone — my precious 



406 GHOST LAND. 

darling ! more than two months. All I can do is to tell 
you the way the thing came round. 

" Emily received a splendid settlement in her marriage, 
and as she is not very likely to bring her noble spouse 
any heirs, she, with his full consent, offered to adopt my 
Blanche as her heiress, provided she were permitted to 
accompany her aunt on her two years' mission to Cal- 
cutta. You know that Blanche was always her aunt's 
favorite, as she was mine? and everybody else's. "Well, 
I don't know how they arranged it all, but they made 
out that as my two boys would have the bulk of the 
estate, and the girls had but little prospect beyond 
slim settlements, or rich marriages, of course this offer 
of my lady the viscountess was far too magnificent to 
be slighted. Thus they got it all settled to their sat- 
isfaction, and I verily believe had* fitted my little fairy 
out with all the gauzes and finery proper on such occa- 
sions, when suddenly they bethought them of coming 
to ask my consent to my darling's abstraction. Now, 
Louis, you know me well enough to be aware how hard 
it would be for me to oppose one woman at a time; but 
when I tell you that they came in a band, and asked me 
en masse to consent to what they had already fully made 
up their minds to do, you may * guess,' as our Ameri- 
can cousins have it, what sort of a chance I stood 
amongst them. However, I thought I would just try 
it on a little ; so, summoning up my most potential air 
of authority, I stated my decided objection to any child 
of mine taking up her residence amongst lions and 
tigers, snake charmers and cluarmeresses ; but before I 
could get out another word — rap, rap, rap! comes ? the 
spirits,' and instantly my whole band of feminines set 
to work spelling out communications from what I was 
informed was the spirit of * a fakir ' who had lived six 



GHOST LAND. 407 

thousand years ago, and who peremptorily commanded 
that the Lady Blanche Dudley should proceed forth- 
with to India, ? to meet her fat.' 

"<Meet her fat!' I exclaimed. * In heaven's name, 
why should she go so far to meet fat? That fakir 
does n't know much about my family arrangements, I 
take it.' 

" f May it not be to make her fat?' suggested my 
wife. 

w But no, the spirits would n't have it that way either; 
then, after a considerable amount of bungling, the fakir 
corrected his spelling, and the sentence read thus : * To 
meet her fate.' 

"Well, when a body of women, backed up by a man 
six thousand years old, undertake to have their own 
way Louis, rely upon it, the best thing one can do is to 
make a virtue of necessity and give the consent they 'd 
just as soon do without; and so, to make a long story 
short, she sailed away last March Louis, and the sun- 
light of my life sailed with her. That 's all. 

" Now, my dear fellow," continued my friend, " don't 
think I want to tax your good-nature or impose any 
burdens upon you in the philandering line, but what I 
would say is this: See my little Sunshine, and just find 
out, as you can do if you choose, if she is happy; 
whether she does n't want to return to her old father, or 
whether she would rather stay till my lord's term ex- 
pires. "Which ever it is Louis, I give you carte blanche 
to act as if she were your own child, or, for the matter 
of that, your grandchild. If she prefers her native 
moon, that is, the moon of her native land, to that blaz- 
ing old luminary you keep for warming purposes in 
Hindostan, take her away in her father's name. Pack 
her up, with a legion of Ayahs to wait on her, and a 



408 GHOST LAND. 

regiment of Sepoys to escort her, and I '11 pawn my 
earldom but I '11 recompense you, if her transit home 
costs a king's ransom." 

Such was the substance of my old friend's letter, and 
though I was vexed enough to find it ought to have been 
delivered to me so many months ago, I still hoped to be 
in time to ascertain how far the fair Lady Blanche had 
become reconciled to meeting " her fate " in India, or 
whether she might not wish to return to her native 
land. . Devoting the next hour to writing explanatory 
letters to my old friend, and the rest of the day to my 
preparations for departure, I was ready to. set out that 
night with Graham for Calcutta, which " City of Pal- 
aces " we reached in due time, and after taking a cordial 
leave of each other, we departed to our separate desti- 
nations. 

I took an early opportunity after my arrival to call 

at the Viscount B, 's residence, to inquire for his 

wife and niece. The ladies were away at their country 
seat, I was informed, but would return to-morrow. I 
left cards for them, but none for the Scotch digni- 
tary. The next morning however, brought the vis- 
count's servant to my residence with his master's card, 
and a singularly cordial invitation to dine en famille at 
his house the next day, when his wife and niece would 
have returned to the city. At the appointed time, and 
whilst I was preparing for my visit, Capt. Graham en- 
tered my room with his usual unceremonious frankness, 
and tendering me a highly perfumed and extravagantly 
embossed billet, accompanied it by the urgent request 
that I would oblige him by accepting the invitation it 
contained, which was nothing less than to attend a 
fashionable entertainment at the residence of Madame 
Helene Laval, the widow of an eminent East Indian 



GHOST LAND. 409 

nabob, and the reigning queen of a certain class of 
fashionable society, for that season, at Calcutta. "When 
Graham first tendered me the scented piece of frivolity 
that conveyed this invitation, I was half angry with 
him, and despite the sincere regard we entertained for 
each other, I was somewhat hurt that he should have 
so far mistaken me as to imagine that I should be will- 
ing to spend my time in assemblies of mere fops 
and flirts. He knew that I was often compelled to 
take part in stately ceremonial or official gatherings, 
but he also knew that in my most charitable moods, I 
could not regard what is popularly called w society " 
with toleration ; how then, could he expect me I asked 
coldly, to make one of the gilded butterflies whom 
a vain and ambitious woman gathered around her for 
the sake of exhibiting the homage offered up at her 
shrine ? 

Poor Graham bore my reproaches very patiently, but 
would not yield his point nevertheless. He said la 
belle Selene was like myself a "mystic" and devoted 
"occultist"; she had long known me by reputation as a 
student of her favorite sciences, and was eager to meet 
me; that it was no gilded butterflies, but profound 
thinkers, grave reformers, and speculative metaphysi- 
cians who were in the habit of attending her soirees. 
Some rank and fashion of course, was permitted to 
exhibit there, but for the most part it was to be an 
assembly of those whom I should acknowledge to be 
w the best people in the city." Graham added, with an 
earnestness peculiarly irresistible to me, his attached 
friend, " But it is not for the society's sake I urge you 
Chevalier, it is for my own that I plead; there will be 
one 'person there to-night, whom I entreat you to 
meet, to look upon and speak to, if for no other pur- 



410 GHOST LAND. 

pose, at least to oblige the friend who would nevei 
refuse anything you could ask." 

" Enough ! " I replied, w you wish me to see your 
enchantress, Graham. As soon as I can extricate 
myself from the dinner engagement I am about to fulfil, 
I will meet you at Madame Laval's." 

On arriving at Viscount E 's, I was received by 

him with much more cordiality than he had deigned to 
bestow on the German mystic of olden times, but his 
fair wife, now in the full blush of her Hindoo dignities 
expanded into a portly, magnificent w Begum," greeted 
me with all the affectionate interest of our former ac- 
quaintance. By her side, and almost overshadowed in 
the amplitude of her gorgeous robes, stood her beautiful 
niece, not the little Blanche of old; no more the merry, 
light-hearted " little Sunshine " of her doting father's 
home, but the graceful and distingue Lady Blanche 
Dudley, somewhat grown it is true, but still petite, 
slight, fragile, — ethereal perhaps, would be the better 
word, — and beautiful ; heavens ! what a wondrously 
'beautiful creature she was! All the poet's ideals of 
sylphs, undines, or fairy beings, " too fair for earth, too 
frail for heaven," would have paled and grown cold, 
plain, and insignificant before the beauty of this won- 
drous, unearthly-looking girl. I gazed at her as I 
would have done at the cunning workmanship of an 
Apelles, a Phidias, or an Angelo. At that time, at 
least, I regarded her more as a marble goddess than 
a very lovely mortal. Her beauty had a touch of 
sadness quite unlike the Blanche of old, and there was 
so much dignity in the turn of her graceful form, veiled 
by masses of golden ringlets, that I stood like a wor- 
shipper of the beautiful in art, as I have ever been, and 
I suppose stared at her in equal surprise and admira- 



GHOST LAND. 411 

tion ere I had the sense or good-breeding to greet her. 
She was as much changed in manner as appearance, 
I found, for though she met me with kindness and 
empressment, there was a womanly reserve and a far- 
off, dreamy air of abstraction about her which com- 
pletely removed her from my memory as the merry, 
laughing girl I had parted with eight years before. 

Ever a dreamer, a vision arose in my mind of the 
many hearts that would ache, and the many gallants 
that would sigh in vain for this creature of light and 
ether, this peerless Undine, and that too in a city where 
the tropic skies and burning sun kindle up warmer 
emotions than in any other fashionable capital of the 
known world. And this was all, absolutely all, that 
I thought about the Lady Blanche Dudley during the 
many succeeding months that I became her constant 
attendant, escorting her in her rides and drives, waiting 
upon her in her uncle's stately official entertainments, 
listening to her thrilling voice, sweeter than the fabled 
syren's, as she accompanied herself with masterly skill 
on the harp ; watching crowds of adorers hovering 
around her, and the richest and noblest in the land emu- 
lating each other for the honor of winning one glance 
from her wonderful violet eyes. And all this I watched, 
and looked upon her meanwhile as I would upon a beau- 
tiful and ingenious piece of mechanism, or as those of my 
comrades who knew me best affirmed, " like an Arctic 
iceberg, reflecting back the rays of a Southern sun, 
but never melting beneath them." And this fair Lady 
Blanche never changed the soft, white, fleecy gauzes 
in which she veiled her exquisite form for any othei 
dress, and never substituted the fresh flowers and leaves 
which constituted her only ornaments for the radiant 
jewels and burnished gold that flashed on every side 



412 GHOST LAND. 

around her. Who can wonder that she moved in the 
midst of India's highest magnates like a descended star 
of light and purity? 

Who can wonder that she became the cynosure of all 
admiring eyes, save mine? For her good father's sake, 
and because I remembered how tenderly in times gone 
by, the kind-hearted little one, had wept in sympathy 
with my strange afflictions, I devoted to her now all the 
spare time I had to give, and delighted to escort her 
and her good-natured aunt to those scenes of ancient 
art and antique splendor with which Hindostan abounds, 
but in which so few of the fashionable crowds around 
them took the deep interest they appeared to do. 

Sometimes I wondered at this fair creature's beauty; 
sometimes lifted one of her golden curls to kiss, or 
placed choice flowers amongst them. She never raised 
her eyes to mine, scarcely ever looked at or spoke to 
me, and yet I knew this was not unkindness. 

On the evening of my first visit to the viscount's I 
informed my friends that I must leave them soon after 
dinner, as I had resolved to keep tryst with poor Gra- 
ham. We did not dine until 10 p. m., so that it was 
midnight before I was free. I then stated the nature of 
my engagement, and prepared to take my leave; Great 
was my surprise however, when the viscount asked me 
if I would take his place as an escort to his wife and 
niece who were also engaged to attend Madame Laval's 
entertainment, from which he should still be detained 
for an hour or so. 

"Are you then acquainted with this lady?" I asked 
of the viscountess, as we drove to Madame Laval's res- 
idence." 

w Oh, yes," replied Lady Emily, " of course we are. 
Helene is our Blanche's dearest friend; in fact, they are 



GHOST LAND. 413 

almost inseparable; besides," she added, lowering her 
tone mysteriously, " she is one of our sort, you know, 
Chevalier; a mystic and a medium, and all that sort of 
thing, and of course, we are delighted to cultivate her, 
with our present terribly materialistic surroundings. 
She reads the stars, too, distils potions, and — " 

"Dearest aunt," interposed Blanche, "do not suffer 
yourself to speak so wildly of Helene. She is a woman 
far beyond her surroundings, Chevalier," she added, 
turning to me, and blushing in the warmth of her 
friend's defence. 

""Why don't you call me Louis, as you used to do?" 
I asked. " Is it because I am now expected to address 
you as Lady Blanche Dudley? " 

" Louis ! " she said in an accent so pathetic that it 
rings in my ears to this day. " Louis, then, now and 
forever ! " 

Of Madame Laval's entertainment, her royal and 
distinguished guests, and the splendor which flashed 
through her salons at every turn, it would require a 
writer more skilled and interested in such scenes than 
myself to dilate on. It is enough to say that as we entered 
the principal salon. Lady Blanche, in defiance of all 
etiquette, left me, and hastened forward to greet her 
beloved friend with a sister's kiss, and then returned 
leading that friend, with something like her old look of 
girlish impulse, through the gay crowds, to present to 
me. As she approached, I saw that she led in triumph 
and obvious delight, a tall, graceful, splendid brunette, 
with large, searching, oriental eyes, heavy masses of 
raven hair, glittering with diamonds, a majestic pres- 
ence, fascinating smile, and — the impersonation of the 
horrible vision I had beheld when psychometrizing 
Graham's "talismanic" package! 



414 GHOST LAND. 

This lady, whom I subsequently found had been 
named in the fashionable circles that thronged around 
her, " the enchantress," received me with marked pres- 
tige. She held my hand in hers some time longer than 
was necessary for the formalities of presentation; in- 
formed me I was no stranger to her, though she, of 
course, she said, was unknown to me ; told me she had 

seen me at , and here she named several scenes of 

my public life when I might have been in presence 
of many persons of whom I knew nothing; that she 
had followed my career with the deepest interest, sym- 
pathized with certain of those pursuits which vulgar 
rumor attributed to me, and was especially delighted to 
meet me on account of her darling friend, — here she 
glanced patronizingly down upon Blanche, — and finally 
she released my hand, but not before she had given me 
the peculiar grip accompanied by the sign of a certain 
society, to which I belonged, but to which I never knew 
that any ladies had been admitted. Before I had time 
to breathe or recover from the shock her identification 
with my vision occasioned me, still less to follow the 
drift of her many complimentary remarks and the extra- 
ordinary signs of understanding she gave me, she again 
claimed my attention for the purpose of presenting 
her brother, Monsieur Paul Perrault, a tall, handsome 
Frenchman, who strongly resembled his sister, but the 
touch of whose ungloved hand sent a thrill through 
mine which reminded me of nothing so much as plun- 
ging my hand into a nest of crawling adders. 

Oh, fatal gift of occult sight ! Oh, ban of mortal life, — 
that power which pierces the veil, wisely, providentially, 
hung before the holy of holies in each one's secret 
nature! That fatal occult sight was mine from the 
moment that woman fixed her talismanic eyes upon me. 



GHOST LAND. 415 

That veil was lifted instantly as I beheld her standing 
side by side with her obsequious brother. Near them 
gleamed the snow-white, misty robes of the golden- 
haired Blanche, and above their heads grinned and 
chattered a triad of hideous elementaries, invisible to 
all but me, yet graphically revealing the characteristics 
of the couple to whom they were attracted as attendant 
spirits, and glowering at the unconscious Blanche like 
the demons of some hideous rite, to whom she, the pure 
victim, was to be offered up as a sacrifice. 

Near this group stood my friend Graham, and I was 
fairly shocked by the look of pain and anxiety with 
which he was scrutinizing me as I endured this intro- 
duction. I have often marvelled why the exercise of 
spiritual insight is so seldom accompanied by the 
power to use it. The seer is compelled to behold the 
innermost of natures all masked to others, yet the cramp- 
ing bonds of society interpose to neutralize the value of 
what he discovers. 

Had I obeyed the monitions which my spiritual per- 
ceptions suggested at that moment, I should have 
spurned, ay, spat upon that brother and sister instead 
of bowing before them and suffering them to touch my 
shivering hand ; I should have shut them out from all 
that was good and fair and beautiful; above all, I should 
have laid that golden-headed Blanche low in the quiet 
grave ere I had suffered their baleful presence to come 
like a blight between her and the sunlight of her young 
life. As it was, the shadow of the future clung around 
me like a cold, damp shroud, and as I caught the eye of 
poor Graham, I felt giddy, lost, wretched, and he hiew 
I understood that the original of the vision stood before 
me. When the host and hostess left me to pay their 
compliments to others, Graham approached and said 



416 GHOST LAND. 

earnestly, "You have my secret, Chevalier, and see my 
enchantress. You cannot wonder at my fascination, nor 
do I marvel at yours." He glanced as he spoke at the 
fair Blanche. " Oh ! " I said as if waking from a dream, 
w I have no fascination here, Graham. These scenes are 
hateful to me, and the atmosphere is so unendurable I 

can stay no longer." As I spoke, the Viscount R, 

and a party of his friends entered the salon. Pleading 
the indisposition I really felt, I hastened to resign my 
charge to him, and left the place. 

It was towards the close of the same night, just as the 
first faint streaks of dawning light had begun to dispel 
the darkness, that I awoke with an indescribable sense of 
mental oppression. I felt as if all that was good and true 
had abandoned me and I was left in the toils of some foul 
and hateful captivity. As I started up from my pillow, 
determined to shake off this terrible nightmare by exer- 
cise, I saw distinctly, standing between me and' the 
faintly illumined sky as it gleamed through the open 
glass doors of my chamber, the figure of Madame 
Helene Laval, — graceful, beautiful, and commanding 
as a Pythoness, a veritable Medea, though but little of 
a woman. In one hand she held a short curl of black 
hair, in the other a square case, the nature of which I 
could not at first discern. Her voice, which though 
deep was singularly sweet and sympathetic, sounded a 
long way off as she said, " Do not seek to fly me ! I love 
you, have long loved and followed you. Give me your 
affection or — yourself, and I will worship you. Re- 
ject me, and I will destroy all you love best." 

She then raised the square case she held in her hand, 
and I saw it was an ivory miniature, a likeness of my- 
self, that Mr. Dudley had caused to be taken before I 
left England. I was not informed how this portrait was 



GHOST LAND. 417 

to be disposed of, but I was under the impression that 
it belonged to the family generally. 

Without any definite idea of what I was going to do, 
I sprang from my bed and grasped the figure I beheld 
by the arm, endeavoring at the same time to seize the 
portrait she held. What I touched gave me the impres- 
sion of being a substance like stiff gauze, or lace in- 
flated by air; but instantly, beneath my hand, this 
substance began to recede, the figure collapsed, shrank 
together, and melted down to the floor. The last por- 
tion I saw of it was a pair of black, long, almond- 
shaped eyes, gleaming at me with an expression I 
would fain blot out from my memory forever. 

I have often touched the " atmospheric spirit " or 
Dopjjel Ganger of others, my own included, and felt a 
sense of resistance like the application of my hand to 
a body of compressed air, but I never before experi- 
enced such a concrete mass of materialized life essence 
as this terrible wraith displayed. It vanished, however, 
though from that time forth it haunted me day and 
night for many a long month. 

When my phantom visitor disappeared, I mechani- 
cally raised my hand to my head, and discovered where 
a lock of hair had been cut away from the back; but 
how or when was as much a mystery as how it had 
come into the visionary hand where it had just been 
displayed. 

It was about a week after this occurrence, and when 

I was engaged to dine at "Viscount R 's, that on 

entering his drawing-room, I saw Lady Emily standing 
looking out of the window with her back towards me. 
She was alone. I knew her impressibility, and had but 
to exert my will for one instant to place her under its 
psychological influence. I then caused her to turn 



418 GHOST LAND. 

round, sit down on an ottoman before me, and answer 
the following questions : — 

w Lady Emily, tell me truly, to whom was my portrait 
given after I left England?" 

K To Blanche, my niece." 

" For what reason? " 

" She asked permission of her mother to copy it, as a 
work of art." 

"For whom?" 

"For herself. She confided to me her wish to pos- 
sess a copy, and I agreed that it should be asked for in 
my name." 

"Where is that copy now?" 

Lady Emily began to tremble violently as she 
answered, though with great apparent reluctance, "In 
the possession of Helene de Laval." 

"How came it there? " 

"Helene asked Blanche for it, with the expressed 
wish of copying it, and Blanche, who can refuse Helene 
nothing, was obliged to comply." 

"How did Madame Laval know Blanche possessed 
such a picture? " 

" O heavens ! that woman knows everything. She 
has a complete mastery over Blanche, and can read the 
inmost secrets of her heart." 

" And yours also, Lady Emily." 

w !Nbt so well. She has never magnetized me, but she 
has Blanche." 

" Can you not interpose your authority to prevent the 
continuance of this intimacy?" 

" I will try, but I am afraid of Helene. She can come 
and go as a spirit, whenever and wherever she pleases." 

"Have you ever seen her as a spirit?" 

"Many times; coming out of Blanche's apartments." 



GHOST LAND. 419 

" Have others seen her?" 

w Certainly. Blanche's maid, also the viscount and 
my housekeeper." 

"Why did she desire to have my picture? " 

I felt condemned as I asked this question, and the 
self-reproach that arose in my mind, occasioning a feel- 
ing of irresolution, evidently shook my rapport with the 
somnambulist. I saw that she too was irresolute and 
doubtful. I immediately closed the seance, therefore, 
and, demagnetizing my kind subject, presented myself 
before her as if I had just entered the drawing-room. 
Lady Emily started, and holding out her hand, ex- 
claimed, "Why, Louis! is it possible you have found 
me napping? I believe I am hardly awake yet, for I 
am strangely sleepy." 

For many months I was detained by the duties of my 
position in the vicinity of Calcutta, and during the con- 
stant intimacy I maintained with my English friends, I 
discovered three well-marked features of our relative 
situations. The first was that Blanche Dudley was 
completely infatuated by, and in the power of, Madame 
Helene Laval. Next, that the lady's brother, M. Per- 
rault, was equally infatuated with the beautiful English 
lady; and despite the fact that his rivals were, some of 
them, native princes and nobles of the highest rank and 
official distinction in Hindostan, he had conceived the 
audacious design of appropriating this precious prize, 
despite all odds against him. That he was weaving a 
spell around this beautiful creature by aid of other arts 
than those of his own personal attractions was a fact 
of which I became more and more distressingly con- 
scious every day; whilst the third and most repulsive 
idea which ranged itself before me in the category of 
certainties, was that his magnificent sister was directing 



420 GHOST LAND. 

a battery of the same magical character against myself; 
furthermore, that it required all the knowledge of 
occultism that I possessed, to baffle and thwart the arts 
she employed to fascinate me. 

Not an hour of the day or night passed, during 
which I disposed myself to slumber, that I did not 
awaken to find her K atmospheric spirit " hovering over 
me. Exorcism, concentrated will, all were in vain to 
banish this dreadful haunting. The terrible wraith 
could neither touch nor magnetize me, but she was her- 
self so powerful an adept and so reckless in her alli- 
ance with the most potential of element aries, that the 
best I could do was to guard myself during my waking 
hours against the mighty spells she used to subdue me. 
There were means by which I could have utterly broken 
those spells, and cast them back upon herself; but in 
this case I must have left the unfortunate Lady Blanche 
an unprotected prey to the arts of this vile woman and 
her bad brother ; and for the sake of the innocent girl 
herself, no less than in my steady friendship for her 
excellent father, I silently, secretly vowed myself to 
her defence against her unprincipled assailants. The 
problematical part of this network of evil lay in the fact 
that Blanche had become completely spell-bound before 
my arrival in Calcutta. When I attempted to modify 
her unlimited confidence in Helene, she expressed the 
utmost regret and astonishment at my aversion for so 
charming a person, and asked mournfully why I wished 
to take from her, her only friend. 

K Has she told you she was your only friend, Blanche," 
I asked, — "you, who are surrounded, not with friends 
alone, but with positive worshippers?" 

"What are they all to me?" replied the poor girl, 
in a pleading, bewildered tone. " One true friend is 



GHOST LAND. 421 

Worth a legion of interested acquaintances. Helene 
is true. She alone understands me. Whom else can I 
trust?" 

" Can you not trust me, Blanche?" I inquired, though 
with much hesitation. 

Flushing instantly to the hue of the crimson roses 
which adorned her white dress, she answered evasively, 
"Helene told me before you came hither, you would 
cruelly misunderstand her, and warn me against her. 
She knew this by aid of those powerful spirits who 
surround her. She told me, too, the hour would come 
when I should have no one to rely upon but her. Is it 
not come now?" 

There was an air of utter desolation in the accents 
of this young and beautiful creature, which formed a 
strange contrast between the splendor of her surround- 
ings, the attractions which brought half a kingdom to 
her feet, and the forlorn expression with which she 
clasped her little hands and gazed into the far-off dis- 
tance, like a hunted deer seeking for shelter. 

The piteous though unspoken appeal made its way 
into the depths of my heart, and would certainly have 
enchained me in the bonds I so much dreaded, had 
not a happy alternative suggested itself. I suddenly 
remembered her good father's letter, and knew how 
much he w r ould at that moment have felt indebted to 
me if I assumed his office, and urged upon the poor, 
bewildered girl an immediate return to his paternal care 
and protection. 

I knew the fearful peril in which she stood, and 
though I could never make her pure and innocent 
nature comprehend the force of evil spells or the 
actual potency of psychological arts, I succeeded in 
impressing her with the dangers she incurred by sub- 



422 GHOST LAND. 

jecting herself any longer to the possibility of a con- 
trolling influence from her friend, Helene, in favor of 
her audacious brother, Paul Perrault. 

I found here that I had touched a chord, to which 
every fibre in the refined and high-toned lady's being 
instantly responded. She truly loved Helene, but detested 
her brother. She perfectly understood his pretensions, 
but never for one moment believed that even Helene's 
influence could convert her loathing for Perrault into 
toleration. From this source, she said, she expected no 
other result than the pain she felt in inflicting pain on 
her friend. My arguments, however, proved resistless. 
I brought such an array of reasons before her to show 
why she should return, for her father's sake, her own, 
and — alas! more potential than all — for mine, that, 
putting both her hands into mine, and fixing her won- 
derfully lovely eyes upon me with the devotion of a 
saint for a deity, she murmured, w Order my destiny as 
you will : I obey." Hating myself for my resolution to 
send her away, yet more resolved than ever to remove 
her from scenes and places where there was not one 
human being worthy of her, least of all myself, I left 
her, having undertaken the very difficult, very ungra- 
cious, and certainly untruthful task of persuading her 
aunt and uncle that she was pining to return to her 
home, wearying for the society of her own family, and 
must be sent back by the very next ship that sailed. 



CHAPTEK XXni. 

BLACK MAGIC OR VAUDOOISM. 

It was with considerable hesitation that I presented 
my plea to the Yis count B, for his fair niece's re- 
turn to England. 

I had nothing to" excuse my interference in such a 
matter but her father's letter and her oivn wish; for 
this was the ground on which Blanche herself had 
desired me to found my proposition. The viscount 
received my request very coldly, but said he would refer 
the matter to his wife and niece, with whom he prom- 
ised to consult before arriving at any conclusion on his 
own account; meantime, he added, as I had thought 
proper to open up the subject of his niece's welfare, he 
deemed it a favorable opportunity to present another 
view of her interests, and one in which he thought I 
was more immediately concerned. He then, in stately 
phraseology, and with considerable show of patronage, 
made me a formal offer of the lady's hand. He ac- 
knowledged that I had given him no reason to suppose 
I sought such an alliance, but he could hardly imagine 
that the honor for which princes contended would be 
unappreciated by me. He confessed that he was im- 
pelled to " this extraodinary breach of etiquette," first, 
by what he knew to have long been the sincere w r ish of 
the Lady Blanche's excellent parents ; next, because his 
"own dear wife " had set her heart upon the match. In 



424 GHOST LAND. 

addition to this, he said, it was evident that there was 
some powerful obstacle to the young lady's settlement 
in life, when she so pertinaciously refused all the splen- 
did opportunities that were open to her; and finally, he 
trusted to my chivalry and sense of honor not to mis- 
understand him when he hinted his opinion, that I was 
the particular obstacle in the way ; in a word, that it was 
for my sake that she had rejected the many desirable 
offers of brilliant settlement that had been made to her. 

My principal sentiment towards Lord H for this 

very flattering address was. one of gratitude, as it gave 
me an opportunity to explain to him my position with 
perfect candor. I told him, with all the deep and affec- 
tionate interest I cherished for Earl D and his 

family, to say nothing of my fraternal regard for sweet 
Blanche herself, it was yet impossible that I conld 
marry. I was a man devoted to a special idea, con- 
secrated to aims wholly foreign to the marriage relation, 
the duties of which I conld not undertake consistently 
with the religious engagements to which I referred. I 
assured him that it was chiefly because I was unable to 
contribute to Blanche's happiness or peace of mind, that 
I had pleaded with him to permit her return to her 
native land and her father's protection. 

" To her father's protection most surely," replied .the 
viscount bitterly. "Handsome men that canH marry 
ought decidedly to devote themselves to a religious life ; 
and beautiful young ladies that wonH marry should 
never be absent from the paternal roof." 

Without resenting the tone of sarcastic disappoint- 
ment in which the poor viscount spoke, I again took 
advantage of our awkward game of fence to urge my 

plea for Blanche's departure. I knew that Lord K 

had no valid excuse for finding fault with me in this 



GHOST LAND. 425 

rejection of an engagement I had never given him the 
least reason to suppose I desired, yet I pitied his morti- 
fication, and felt neither surprised nor angry to observe 
that he could scarcely master his sense of humiliation, 
or address me with common civility. 

He at length assumed an air of submission, which ill- 
concealed his anger and disappointment; and as I was 
about to take my leave, he suggested that as perhaps 
the ladies might suspect what a blockhead he had 
been making of himself if I departed thus suddenly, he 
should feel obliged if I would deign to bestow a few 
moments more of my valuable time upon them in the 
drawing-room. I followed him in silence to Lady 
Emily's boudoir, where we found Blanche extended on 
a couch, suffering from a severe headache. I uttered a 
few of the commonplace pieces of advice usual under 
such circumstances, and was about to make this indis- 
position a plea for my immediate departure, when 
Blanche rose suddenly, and shaking back her glorious 
veil of golden curls from her flushed face, she ex- 
claimed, "Helene will cure me; she calls me even now. 
I know her soothing influence." 

For a few moments she stood, evidently magnetized 
by some unseen power, in the attitude of a Pythia wait- 
ing for the inspiration of the divine efflatus; then as the 
force of somnambulism deepened upon her, her beauti- 
ful face became almost transfigured. Every one present 
continued to gaze upon her with breathless admiration, 
when suddenly she commenced to sing a song so full of 
sympathetic tenderness and exquisite melody that it was 
almost impossible to listen to her without tears. This 
wonderful piece of musical improvisation was addressed 
to me, and breathed the language of hopeless love com- 
bined with a warning of impending evil. It might have 



426 GHOST LAND. 

applied to the songstress herself, but seemed more 
designed to express the passion of the sibylline Helene, 
whose w atmospheric spirit " I could discern, standing 
beside, and inspiring the beautiful somnambulist. Even 
the viscount, cold and passionless as he was, had suffi- 
cient artistic culture to be amazed and enchanted at the 
irresistible beauty of the song. Most fortunately, too, 
he had seen enough of the magnetic trance to under- 
stand it. He was none the less displeased, however, and 
declared that since his niece was given to " such fits of 
vaticination as that, " the only safe and proper place for 
her was beneath her father's roof, and the sooner she was 
there the more relieved he should feel. 

Meantime poor Lady Emily wept and smiled and 
clapped her hands with delight, and when at last the 
fair somnambulist returned to consciousness, and hid 
her face in her aunt's arms, the latter expressed her 
unbounded satisfaction that her Blanche had not lost 
that wonderful gift of "trance improvisation" which had 
made her the star of those happy home seances which 
had proceeded under her father's roof, and in which 
Blanche had been the principal medium and Lady 
Emily one of the admiring witnesses. 

When Blanche was entirely restored to herself, I 
asked her gently, whether Madame Laval had been in 
the habit of magnetizing her. K Oh, yes," she answered, 
"frequently. She can not only relieve my headaches 
when I have one, but she can call me to her at any 
distance. We have frequently tried this experiment, 
and I know she could make me come to her, should she 
will me to do so, from the end of the world." 

I looked significantly at the viscount, and then rose 
to take my leave. He followed me from the room, say- 
ing with much cordiality, as we shook hands at parting, 



GHOST LAND. 427 

w Chevalier, you are right. This poor girl's place is 
with her father and mother. I have been wrong to 
allow her to engage in these dangerous magnetic prac- 
tices; and since they cannot be broken through if she 
stays here, go she must, and that with the least possible 
delay." 

"Has not the error been in allowing one so pure, 
innocent, and impressible as Blanche," I replied, "to 
become subjugated by the baleful influence of Madame 
Laval?" 

The viscount colored highly, and in the elaborate 
defence which he attempted of Madame Laval, simply 
confirmed my suspicions that he, like his niece and 
many another unsuspecting victim, had succumbed to 
the spell which this enchantress delighted to cast on all 
around her, especially when, as in the present instance, 
she had something to gain by the exercise of her fas- 
cinations. It was agreed between the viscount and 
myself, that Blanche should sail for England in about 
ten days, that in the mean time she should be taken by 
Lady Emily to their country-seat, some seven miles 
from Calcutta, under pretence of allowing her full 
leisure to complete her preparations for departure, 
whilst the viscount and myself further arranged that I 
should ride out to see her as often as was necessary, to 
consult about the most perfect conditions for her com- 
fort and welfare during her passage homeward. 

My mind set at rest on that subject, I felt free to 
devote myself a little more to my friend Graham, who 
had at last induced me to promise that I would that 
very night, conduct him to a Yaudoo woman, from 
whom he hoped to obtain some gift or information 
which would aid him in the prosecution of his almost 
hopeless suit. I had in vain attempted to dissuade him 



428 GHOST LAND. 

from this step. Graham either would not or could not 
open his eyes to the real character of the woman he so 
.frantically loved. Some of the arts she had put upon 
him in common with others whom she desired to fasci- 
nate, had led him to believe that it only required a 
certain amount of influence on his part to turn the 
scale of her vacillating mind in his favor. He had 
heard much, he said, of a certain Vaudoo woman of 
Calcutta, named Anine, who to his certain knowledge 
had brought together many couples whom he named. 

All the philosophy I had formerly urged against these 
practices were reiterated in vain. He was resolved to 
try the effect of Vaudooism, and, with or without me, 
he would visit Anine. 

Now, it so happened that I had in my service a fakir 
named Nazir Sahib, who was remarkably skilful in all 
feats of occultism, especially in such as were produced 
through the ecstacy of motion, an art he had learned 
in Egypt from the famous "whirling dervishes." This 
fakir was a Malay, and brother to that very Anine who 
had obtained a high reputation for her success in those 
arts of sorcery, which more properly come under the 
cognomen of "Vaudooism." I had never seen Nazir's 
sister, nor had I any desire to do so; but as my little 
fakir was much attached to me, and delighted to recount 
for my edification his sister's remarkable experiences 
with her distinguished patrons and patronesses, I became 
unwittingly, the repository of many singular and un- 
sought-for confidences, amongst which was one that 
I deemed might be peculiarly serviceable to my friend 
Graham at this juncture. 

It was by a private arrangement then with Nazir, 
that I selected a certain night for our visit to Anine, 
and this was the result. Directing our steps towards 



GHOST LAND. 429 

the lowest and most obscure part of the "black city," 
we arrived about midnight at the door of a low dwell- 
ing, when I paused to advise Graham that he was to 
walk unswervingly and as nearly as he could in my 
footsteps, keep close to me, and neither turn aside or 
speak. He need not marvel, I added, that no one who 
might chance to meet us would observe or address us, 
for we should be invisible and unheard. 

If my readers should question whether I was serious 
in this last assertion, I answer Yes, in every iota. If 
they still further desire to know how I could command 
such a power, I reply, By such means as enables the 
Hindoo fakir to saturate his body with living force, 
and subdue all its physical elements to the power of 
his spirit. This power is gained by long-protracted 
fasts and other ascetic practices, continued for years, 
when the actual changes wrought in the system, render 
the rapport between the votary and the spirit world 
very close and intimate. The subject, almost a spirit 
himself, can easily be enveloped in the agasa (life 
essence) of the spirit's astral body, and in this envel- 
ope he walks in spiritual invisibility, commanding the 
physical elements of earth at will. The processes by 
which a determined Eastern ecstatic can attain to these 
spiritual states would be as useless to describe to self- 
indulgent European sybarites as to expect an English 
life-guardsman to fly through the air like an East Indian 
Irdha-pada, who has spent his life in probationary exer- 
cises, besides inheriting an organism fitted for the part 
he plays. 

It is enough to say that I had earned the power I 
possessed, and was aided by spirits to exercise it and 
dispense it to my companion. 

After passing through the outer dwelling and a sue- 



430 GHOST LAND. 

cession of mean, deserted courts, we came to a ruinous 
old temple, in one angle of which I advanced to the 
door of a crypt, which opened from within at my signal, 
and admitted us, by a descent of a few steps, into a large 
stone chamber partly hewn out of the rock. Here we 
found a tank and other preparations for the performance 
of ancient priestly rites. Three veiled females were 
sitting huddled together on a stone bench at the side of 
the hall, and their attire proved that they were atten- 
dants on some lady of consequence. 

K Do not mind them," I said to Graham aloud. " Step 
as I have desired you, and they will not see us." In 
proof of what I said, I led my companion close to the 
group, speaking aloud as we advanced, but they neither 
looked up or noticed us. We then moved on to a 
second door at the farther end of the hall, which, like 
the first, swung open for our passage through. Beyond 
this door we found the scene of operations, which was 
a stone chamber similar to the first, though somewhat 
larger. I placed myself and my companion at the foot 
of a broken peristyle, around the base of which we 
found a heap of stones, on which we leaned whilst the 
following scene Avas enacted. 

A party of half nude fakirs, amongst whom I rec- 
ognized my lively little follower Nazir, danced, spun, 
and whirled in a circle round a female, who, attired sim- 
ply in a loose white robe, with bare arms and feet, and a 
profusion of raven-black tresses falling almost to the 
ground, stood, with arms folded across her breast, in the 
centre of the dancers. These ecstatics whirled round, 
each on his own pivot as it were, with such inconceiv- 
able rapidity that they looked like spinning columns 
rather than human beings, and the immense charge of 
agasa or magnetism they liberated, so completely filled 



GHOST LAND, 431 

the apartment that it could be almost seen as a vapor, as 
well as felt as a force; certain it is, that it nearly over- 
powered Graham, who would have fallen to the ground 
under its tremendous influence, had I not held his 
hand firmly and willed him to be calm. At the upper 
end of the hall was an altar covered with cabalistic 
characters, on which were placed three braziers dis- 
pensing fumigations. Before the altar was a red char- 
coal fire, whilst moving around the fire and feeding the 
brazier with strong, pungent odors, was the sister of 
Nazir, a Malay woman with handsome features, bright, 
sparkling eyes, and wearing a short, white tunic edged 
with cabalistic signs, and a sort of glittering coronet, 
similarly adorned. 

At a certain portion of the dance the whirling fakirs 
all paused instantaneously, stood for a moment motion- 
less, as if they had been turned to stone by the touch of 
an enchanter's wand. They then each raised their lean 
arms and pointed their forefingers at the female in the 
centre. By this change of posture Graham was enabled 
to see plainly what I already knew, namely, that the 
female was Madame Helene Laval. His horror and dis- 
may at this discovery had nearly destroyed the rapport 
in which I held him. He soon recovered himself, how- 
ever, and with a muttered exclamation resumed his place 
by my side. 

As the fakirs continued to point their fingers at the 
lady, her features assumed an expression so rapt and 
superb, that my admiration for the beautiful overcame 
my disgust for her character, and I regarded her for the 
time being with breathless interest. It is no exaggera- 
tion to say that at this juncture, the luminous fluid which 
streamed from the outstretched fingers of the fakirs, shone 
like tongues of flame, and so transported their deeply- 



432 GHOST LAND. 

entranced subject that she tossed her arms aloft, with 
wild cries and convulsive shudderings. At length she 
seemed to make one bound high up in air, when she was 
held suspended three feet above the ground for several 
minutes. At this sight the circle of ecstatics around 
her uttered fresh cries, and imitating her action by toss- 
ing their arms in the air, prostrated themselves, with 
their faces on the ground, where they remained motion- 
less during the rest of what ensued. The Malay woman 
now approached the floating figure, and extending her 
arms towards her with an imperative gesture, whilst 
she chanted a monotonous invocation to the spirits of 
the air, gradually drew her subject down to the earth, 
when, taking her by the hand, she led her to a seat 
placed opposite the fire and within a circle traced on 
the ground. From this point she commenced a series 
of invocations to the spirits of the elements, during 
which she kept incessantly pacing round and round, 
including the altar, the fire, and the lady in her gyra- 
ting path, feeding the fire and braziers meanwhile with 
essences, which continued to dispense their aromatic and 
pungent odors through the chamber. 

To those Spiritualists who may have been accustomed 
to behold mediums floating in air in the midst of the 
commonplaces that ordinarily prevail at modern spirit 
circles, such phenomena may occasion no surprise, nor 
will the above recital convey the slightest idea of the 
weird and ghastly effect which this scene produc 
The gloom and antique solemnity of the rock-hewn c; 
ern ; the strange aspect of the fetish objects which suj 
rounded us; the wild, almost demoniac appearance 
the crouching fakirs, and the half-frenzied mistress of 
the rites; but above all, the preternatural appeara: 
of the white-robed ecstatic, whose suspension in 



GHOST LAND. 433 

baffling all the known laws of nature, must have been 
the effect of powers unknown and incomprehensible, or 
else the action of invisible beings no less terrible than 
the sorceress whom they aided. 

All this was so new and startling to Graham that I 
could not feel surprised when he — as brave a soldier 
as ever drew sword — stood grasping my hand, whilst 
his own was as cold as death, and trembling like an 
aspen leaf, as he leaned for support on my shoulder. 

The following words form a rough translation of the 
first verse, which the sibyl chanted, as she paced round 
and round in her magic circle : — - 

" O beauteous creature of Fire, 
Endow this mortal with thy ardor ! 

Let the flame of her life draw all creatures to her feet in worship ! 
Let her power consume them 

And burn into dust and ashes all who bend not the knee before her ! 
O Spirit of Fire! Spirit of Heat! Spirit of Flame! Spirit of the 
blazing elements! Hear and be obedient ! " 

Three verses addressed to the spirits of the other 
elements followed, but the ardor of the language and 
the reckless wickedness which was implied in them, 
although masked in the synthetical flow of the sweet 
Sheii Tamil language, will not endure translation. 

When these abominable invocations were ended, a 
sensation of rocking and quivering followed, which not 
only pervaded our systems, but seemed to thrill through 
the whole mass of rock from which the ancient fane 
was hewn. An indescribable disturbance, too, agitated 
the air around us. The perception of a sound rather 
than a sound itself, wailed in our ears, something 
between a long-drawn sigh and the moaning of 
the wind. Faint indications of grotesque forms and 
glittering eyes flitted through the gloomy cavern, 
lighted as it was only by the dull glare of the fire 

28 



434 GHOST LAND. 

and braziers, and tongues of flame glinted through the 
atmosphere everywhere. ' Those who, like myself, have 
ever taken part in or witnessed an act of combined 
Yaudooism and ecstacy like the one I am attempting to 
describe, will have experienced what both Graham and I 
felt at the time, namely, an oppression of spirits almost 
amounting to despair, terrible to realize, but almost im- 
possible to express in words. I have known many trav- 
ellers in Oriental lands, who, from motives of curiosity 
or special interest, have attended such scenes, and no 
matter how unimpressible they may have been by na- 
ture, I have never conversed with or heard of one who 
did not realize something of the same kind of desolation 
and abandonment of God and the good which possessed 
us on this occasion. 

When the invocations of the Malay woman were 
ended, she made a profound Oriental salutation to Mad- 
ame Laval; then crossing her arms upon her breast, 
she stood like an ebony statue or an impersonation of the 
spirit of darkness and thus addressed her employer : — 

" What more would the daughter of Indra require of 
her slave? Lo, she is now fairer than Parvati in the 
eyes of mortals, more powerful than he of the sacred 
Bull! What more does she demand?" 

" Anine! " said the lady in a tone of deeper dejection 
than I had ever heard her clear tones sinking to before, 
"Anine, I have already proved your power upon all 
men but one. He whom alone I love, alone has resisted 
me; nay more, I know now — oh, too well, too well! — 
that he actually abhors me." 

w He loves another," said the Malay, coldly. " Is not 
that enough ? " 

"Hush, hush!" cried the lady, fiercely, "you shall 
not tell me that, nor do I yet believe it. Listen to me, 



GHOST LAND. 435 

woman! You have a woman's heart in your breast: 
that I know, despite your reckless indifference to the 
woes of others. Is there nothing you can do to help 
me, — nothing yet left to be tried, Anine?" 

Here she poured out a tale of passion so wild and 
tierce that again my pen halts before the attempt to 
transcribe her words. Reckless and pitiful, wicked, yet 
touching, as they were, they afforded terrible evidence 
of the woe and wreck which human passion can make 
when once its stormy power is suffered to usurp the 
throne of reason. 

Anine replied, "Have I not confessed to thee, lady, 
that this master of spirits is stronger than I? I can bring 
all other men to my feet, but not him. Even now, it 
seems to me that his influence is upon us ; this place is 
full of him, and he beats down my power as if I 
thrashed the wind. 

"Lady, I have told you there is but one way left by 
which you can subdue him: you must hurt him, — nearly 
kill his body before you can touch his spirit ! " 

As she spoke, she advanced to the space behind the 
altar and withdrew a dark curtain, when we at once 
discovered the background of the scene. I must 
confess I was less surprised than my friend, to per- 
ceive that this veil had concealed a large, coarse, but 
well-executed portrait of myself, beneath which was a 
waxen image, which I had no difficulty in recognizing as 
also intended to represent me. 

Graham started wildly as this exhibition met his eyes. 
For the first time, as it would seem, the real truth flashed 
upon his mind; and when the lady, with a mixture of 
passionate sobs, adjurations, and execrations, began 
apostrophizing these effigies in language that admitted 
of but one interpretation, my poor friend's agitation 



436 GHOST LAND. 

exceeded all bounds, and would certainly have destroyed 
my power to shield him from discovery, had I not 
retained a strong grasp upon him. 

"Let us go, Chevalier!" he murmured. "For God's 
sake, let us leave this scene of shame and horror! Is 
this Yaudooism? Is this what I was about to enter 
upon with unhallowed purpose and reckless intent? O 
Heaven, forgive me for my involuntary crime ! " 

It was useless to try and soothe him, or attempt to 
detain him longer in a scene of which I well knew he had 
beheld enough already to effect his perfect restoration to 
a sense of honor, manliness, and piety. For myself, I 
knew well enough the nature of the performance that was 
to ensue. I knew also that whatever it was would fall 
harmless upon my well-guarded spirit. I have already 
intimated to my readers,; that the success or strength and 
potency of all magical rites lies in their psychological 
effect, or the power of mind projected from one indi- 
vidual upon another. Permit me also to recur to the 
theory so often alluded to in these pages, namely, that 
all the effect of will or psychological impress depends 
upon its uninterrupted action. So long as it can reach 
its subject without the intervention of cross-magnetism 
or opposing currents it will surely succeed; but when, 
as in my case, the subject is aware of the work in hand, 
guarded against it by a stronger will and more potential 
spiritual power than that of the operator, the spell fails, 
the potency is overpowered, and the whole attempt is 
baffled. J ' 

According to the conventional ideas upon which tales 
of fiction are founded, the writers — being in general 
well-meaning persons, who conceive themselves bound 
to uphold what they term "the interests of morality" 
— depict their scenic effects with a view to the " triumph 



GHOST LAND. 437 

of virtue over vice," hence the "Vaudoo workers' power 
to harm the pure and good should utterly fail. Unhap- 
pily the physical and psychological laws of being do not 
suspend their action in favor of the moral. The pure 
and pious share the fate of the wicked and blasphemous 
in the sinking ship or burning house, and the good and 
sinless parent is just as apt, if not more so, to love the 
bad and sinful child as the good and pure one. 

( Blind force is inexorable, whether it be directed in 
the interests of vice or virtue. Let us not mistake 
laws for principles. The law of psychological effect is 
the law of strength, of magnetic potency, of positive 
and negative reciprocity. 

The principles of good and evil operate in circles of 
an entirely different character; hence the arts of Vau- 
dooism would and could affect the pure and innocent 
Blanche Dudley, wholly unguarded as she was by any 
influence strong enough to repel the magnetism to which 
having once yielded she had become subject. On me 
this power failed because I was positive to the projector, 
and was enclosed, moreover, in a circle of influence 
which she could not penetrate. 

/As to the intrinsic power of Yaudooism, let me 
endeavor to define it in the following comments. That 
wicked spirits both of mortals and elementaries attend 
such scenes and aid in the effects produced, no well- 
experienced spiritist can deny; that the strong passion 
infused into the rites must aid their phenomenal power 
is equally certain. The rites themselves, the chants, 
invocations, fumigations, and mock tortures inflicted on 
pictures, images, and other inanimate objects, are abso- 
lutely worthless either for good or harm, save and except 
as they are instrumental in stimulating the mind of 
the operators to psychological fury and ecstatic frenzy. 



438 GHOST LAND. 

The true potency of all such scenes lies in the motive, 
the amount of mental power infused into the work, the 
strength of the will with which it is enacted, and the 
attraction which it has for evil and mischievous spirits, 
who delight to aid mortals in such acts as they them- 
selves are in sympathy with. 

/ It may be asked, Where, then, are our good angels, 
and why do they not interpose to save us from these dark 
and malignant powers? I answer, They are ever near; 
potential to aid and prompt to inspire us either to fly from, 
or resist the evil; but that they are always successful 
the facts of human history emphatically deny. } Perhaps 
coarse, gross, and material spirits are nearer to earth than 
the pure and refined. Whatever be the cause, it is as idle 
as injurious to disregard facts for the sake of upholding 
a theory of morals which is only valuable when it is 
proved to be practical. Our best safeguard against 
evil powers and evil machinations in general, is to 
cultivate a pure and innocent nature, which in itself is 
a repelling force against evil. But when that pure and 
innocent nature has become the subject of magnetic influ- 
ence, it is imperative for us to deal no longer with moral 
but with magnetic laws, and these, as I have frequently 
alleged before, act upon principles of their own which 
do not regard morals at all. We must adopt the prin- 
ciples of nature as we find them, not as we deem they 
ought to be nor as we in our egotism suppose they 
will become in deference to our peculiar excellence, 
neither must we delude ourselves with the idea that our 
ignorance will shield us from dangers we know nothing 
about. I have heard many well-meaning people affirm 
they were quite safe from all evil influences, etc. etc., 
because they knew nothing about such subjects, deem- 
ing their security lay in their ignorance. 



GHOST LAND. 439 

In former chapters on the subject of obsession, I have 
referred to the vast multitude of obsessed persons whose 
example proves that innocence and ignorance form no 
protection against the assaults of evil powers. All 
were attacked indiscriminately without any reference to 
their knowledge or ignorance of their state. Sweet 
young children, innocent and ignorant enough to illus- 
trate this position, frequently become the subjects of 
obsession, and I could cite innumerable cases wherein 
good and pure women have fallen victims to the arts of 
base-minded psychologists, whilst far less worthy -per- 
sons, aware of their danger, have escaped. 

I The true safeguard against all occult influence of an 
adverse or malignant character, is an understanding of 
its nature and existence, the laws that govern it and the 
means of thwarting and overruling its effects. 1 * It may 
be very satisfactory to remain in ignorance of the fact 
that the midnight marauder is prowling around our 
doors, provided he takes no advantage of our fancied 
security to break in upon us, but when we are aware of 
his presence and our liability to danger from his incur- 
sions, we shall be able to guard against him without 
any proviso. 

Knowledge is power, Ignorance is imbecility. 

It is for this reason that I would induce all truly 
philosophical thinkers to investigate the occult, and 
study out in the grand lyceum of nature's laws, the 
various sources of good and evil influences by which 
we are constantly surrounded and constantly affected. 
"Were mankind once aware of its danger in this, as in 
every other direction, it would be proof against it. 

The limitations of time and space forbid my enlarging 
upon this subject further. It is enough to know w^hat all 
mankind will sooner or later realize, namely, that will 



440 GHOST LAND. 

is the sovereign potency ruling creation for good or 
evil; and until we educate the race in the knowledge, 
use, and abuse of psychology, we shall continue to sin 
and suffer, become the victims of blind forces which are 
continually operating upon us whether we know it or 
not, filling the lunatic asylums with subjects obsessed 
by evil spirits, the prisons with imbeciles impressed with 
the contagion of criminal propensities, and the home, 
with immoral men and women, laboring under the 
epidemic of evil passions, infused into their natures 
by the very atmosphere they breathe. 

Knowledge and science to the rescue ! The knowl- 
edge of occultism and the science of soul ! 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

PSYCHOLOGY. 

The day at length arrived preceding that fixed for the 
departure of Lady Blanche Dudley from Calcutta. 

Early in the morning I rode over to the viscount's 
country house to communicate my final arrangements to 
Blanche, and inquire how I could still further contribute 
to her comfort. The poor girl perfectly well understood 
that I was the cause of her banishment, in fact she had 
so informed me ; but she only thanked me for my frater- 
nal care, and assured me in her own gentle way that she 
was confident I had studied her best interest and happi- 
ness, and that she was quite willing to go. 

Throughout this interview there was a dreamy, ab- 
stracted manner about her which strangely troubled me. 
It was not coldness nor absence, but a sort of duality, if 
I may use the term, which made me feel as if it were not 
Blanche who addressed me, but her spirit or the spirit 
of another speaking through her. When I addressed 
her she listened, but apparently to some one else, not 
me; and in her answers there was a halting, incompre- 
hensible air of distance which perplexed and pained me 
inexpressibly. 

^W,ith a view of arousing her from this lost condition, 
I separated some of the flowers I had brought her and 
attempted to arrange them, as I had frequently done 
before, with the simple fondness I should have mani- 



442 GHOST LAND. 

fested for a cherished sister, amongst her beautiful 
ringlets: but for the first time in our lives I believe, 
she repelled me, and shrinking from me like a startled 
fawn, she waved her hand in farewell, and darted out 
of the apartment, nor did she again return whilst I re- 
mained at the villa". Like all individuals susceptible of 
spirit influence or psychological impressions, I am com- 
pelled to acknowledge myself to be a creature of moods, 
for which I am not always prepared to render, even to 
myself, any sufficient explanation. That night I knew 
the impress of a strange and occult power was upon 
me. An unconquerable restlessness possessed me, peo- 
pling every lonely place with unendurable visions, yet 
compelling me to withdraw from all human companion- 
ship. Towards midnight I became weary of wander- 
ing through the gardens and over the terraces of my 
own residence, and wayworn and wretched as I felt, but 
without any clew to analyze or control my miserable 
sensations, I retired to my own chamber, determined to 
try if by fastening my attention on a mass of accounts 
and other details of a business character, I could con- 
quer the occult influences that beset me. All would not 
do, however. I could neither write, read, or even sit 
still. Again I re-entered the gardens of the once splen- 
did, though now ruinous old villa I inhabited, and 
walked about, without aim, purpose, or relief, until I 
was foot-sore and weary. At length I returned to my 
dozing attendants, who were waiting up for me. Al- 
most as much aggravated by the presence of these poor, 
patient drudges, as I was angry with myself for impos- 
ing upon them, I hastily dismissed them and prepared 
to retire for the night, determined to compel the sleep I 
longed for, yet dreaded. When I was but half un- 
dressed, the same restless fit returned upon me, and the 



GHOST LAND. 443 

same sense of a nameless, formless presence haunted 
me. Then, as ever in my experience, I found that when 
the mind is most disturbed, the lucidity of the spirit is 
most obscured. One of the earliest lessons of initiation 
I had to learn for the attainment of high spiritual exal- 
tation, was self-control and the entire subjugation of all 
exciting impulses, passions, or emotions. I had been 
taught, and now believe, that the highest grades of 
spiritual power, require for their achievement, a life of 
complete abstinence, chastity, and, as before stated, the 
subjugation not only of the passions, but even of the 
social affections, tastes, and appetites. To be the per- 
fect master of one's self, is the first necessary preparation 
for mastery over others, or the attainment of that com- 
plete condition of mental equilibrium in which Nature, 
with all her realms of occult unfoldment, becomes sub- 
ject to the power of the adept. Naturally impulsive, 
passionate, and emotional, I know I should never have 
succeeded in attaining to the conditions of spiritual exal- 
tation I aimed at, had I not inherited by nature those 
gifts of the spirit, which I had not passivity enough to 
earn by culture. Still, I had labored faithfully through 
the probationary exercises enjoined upon me. Already 
I had succeeded in a thousand self-conquests that few 
young men of my age could have accomplished, and it 
was only at very rare intervals now, that poor fallible 
human nature triumphed over the acquired stoicism of 
the adept. The present occasion however, witnessed 
one of those mental defeats for which I had before paid 
many penalties. At length I determined that my wisest 
course was not to exhaust myself any further by main- 
taining the spiritual warfare that was distracting me. 
w Let the powers of evil do their worst," I mentally 
exclaimed, "I will heed them no more." 



444 GHOST LAND, 

Throwing myself on my bed, half undressed as I was, 
I fell asleep almost as soon as my head touched the 
pillow, nor did I awake again until the moon was low in 
the heavens, and the stars were beginning to pale; then, 
and not till then, I awoke suddenly, disturbed by a 
noise I could not at first distinguish the nature of. With 
heavy, half-closed eyes I lay still, waiting for a repeti- 
tion of the disturbance. It came in the sound of a low 
sob, — a sob of woe, a sound so plaintive and heart- 
rending that I shuddered as I listened. Again and yet 
again, this piteous moan resounded in my ears. It was 
no dream; I soon became convinced it was a reality; 
that it came from the terrace outside my room, was 
approaching nearer and nearer, and was now mingled 
with another sound, namely, that of a very light, but 
slow footstep on the veranda. The next moment a 
w^hite, fleecy form passed through the open glass doors 
of my chamber, and bare-headed, except for the pro- 
fusion of golden curls that fell around her neck and 
shoulders, in a floating white evening dress, soiled, torn, 
and trailing as if dragged through brambles and stony 
places, appeared the bending, wayworn form of the 
hapless Blanche Dudley. One glance sufficed to show 
me there was no speculation in those fixed but lustrous 
eyes which looked straight forward, staring, yet heart- 
broken, into vacancy. Her beautiful face was deathly 
pale, she walked like one in a deep sleep, with a stately 
onward motion; yet her little feet halted, and were 
evidently cut and bruised, for her white shoes were torn 
and stained with blood. Her hands hung drooping by 
her side. In her bosom were placed the flowers I had 
that day brought her ; but except for the white gauze 
evening dress she wore, she had no shelter from the 
chill night air, more chill at that season of the year and 



GHOST LAND. 445 

hour of the night, than is often experienced even in 
northern latitudes. 

As she passed through the open doors of my room, she 
walked forward with the automatic air of a magnetized 
subject, until she reached the foot of my bed, when she 
paused, uttered a low cry, as if she had been suddenly 
struck, and sank to the ground, where she lay on the 
lace that shaded the couch, like a mass of newly-fallen 
snow. 

To extricate myself from the enclosing curtains, so 
arranged as to protect the sleeper from the insects of 
that tropical land, and raise the white and seemingly 
lifeless form from the ground, was but the work of a 
few moments ; but even as I held her in my arms, almost 
paralyzed for the instant with astonishment and dismay, 
the flash of lights from without streamed into my 
chamber, and seven or eight Brahmins, who were asso- 
ciated with me in one of the most important occult soci- 
eties to which I belonged, appeared upon the veranda, 
some of them deliberately entering the room, others 
standing without and gazing upon me sternly through 
the open doors. 

"In the name of Heaven," I cried, choking with rage 
and indignation, "what do you want here, gentlemen? " 

:? We have come here to convince ourselves that an 
evil tale we have heard of your unworthiness, Louis de 

B , is no slander," said one of the oldest of my 

visitors, a noble Guroo, to whom, as one of my teachers, 
I had pledged myself in the most solemn vows to 
observe for a given time the strictest asceticism in 
thought, word, and deed. 

"What, sir!" I answered indignantly, "have you 
then the right to enter my private apartments, intrude 
upon my most sacred hours of retirement, and invade 



446 GHOST LAND. 

every custom of honor and good-breeding in this 
fashion?" I had laid the unfortunate lady on a divan 
as I saw the strangers at my window, and now stood 
between her and the invaders. 

"Louis," said the first speaker, advancing towards 
me mildly but firmly, "we have been this night informed, 
that by your arts you have lured away an unfortunate 
lady from her home, and beguiled her here for her 
destruction. You know the awful penalties you incur 
for breaking your vows during the time you have 
pledged to fulfil them; but even the honor due to our 
order is as nothing compared to the duty we, as your 
spiritual fathers, are called upon to perform, when we 
attempt to save you from the base act with which you 
are charged." 

" Who charges me?" I asked. 

" One who is himself a neophyte of our order," an- 
swered the Guroo. 

"Ferdinand Perrault," said a low voice at my side, 
and turning hastily round, I saw the shrouded form and 
cowled head of the Byga, Chundra ud Deen. 

Before I could appeal to him, as I knew I could suc- 
cessfully, for aid in my dreadful emergency, he 'glided 
quietly up to a group of statues placed in a distant part 
of the chamber, interspersed with rose-trees and trop- 
ical plants, and adding in his low but thrilling voice, 
"and here is the enchantress," he dragged forward, 
seemingly by his own volition rather than any force he 
used, a masked and veiled female, who had up to that 
moment been concealed amongst the trees and statues. 
This person the Byga led forward, obviously with no 
effort on his part, but with a terrible show of reluctance 
and terror on hers, until he placed her in the centre of 
the group that clustered around me. In an instant I 



GHOST LAND. 447 

had dragged the veil from her head and the mask from 
her face, discovering, as I was confident I should, the 
deathly pale yet defiant features of Madame Helene 
Laval. 

" See how you have wronged me, gentlemen ! " I 
exclaimed passionately. w Here is the demon that has 
wrought this destruction. Here is the enchantress by 
whose remorseless arts this unhappy lady, her trusting 
friend, her warm-hearted defender, her most miserable 
magnetic subject, has been drawn hither, whilst you 
have simply been invited to bear witness to the shame 
and ruin this fiend has planned." Who could doubt or 
misunderstand further the character of this foul plot? 
Long before she had any such vile purposes to gain by 
her arts, Madame Laval had openly boasted of her 
magnetic control over the hapless Lady Blanche Dud- 
ley, and by way of what she called " interesting psycho- 
logical experiments," she had on several occasions 
exhibited her power by biologizing the unconscious* and 
innocent victim to her side, when she was at some dis- 
tance from her. Who could have conceived those powers, 
which appeared to have been exercised merely in pas- 
time on the one side by an interested student of spirit- 
ual science, and on the other by a pure, unsuspecting, 
and loving-hearted friend, could thus have been turned 
to the base design of destroying that friend's peace of 
mind and honorable name, to say nothing of the shame 
and disgrace intended to fall upon me. 

Had I been sufficiently composed to have noted the 
details of the sad scene in which I was engaged, I 
could not have failed to remark the extraordinary palsy 
of fear or mental subjugation that had fallen on the 
once commanding Helene. She stood with eyes glar- 
ing fury and defiance, yet vainly striving to protest 



448 GHOST LAND. 

her innocence. A spell stronger than her own over- 
powered her, and so long as the clasp of the shrouded 
Byga was on her arm she could only glance fiercely 
from one to the other of those who surrounded her 
without being able to utter an intelligible sentence. As 
to the Brahmins, they knew and really trusted me. My 
kind friend, ISTanak Pai, was one of their party, and my 
little fakir, ]STazir, flitted from one to another, explaining 
to them who this new intruder on the scene really was, 
and the arts she had practised with his sister Anine, for 
the express purpose of subduing me and injuring the 
poor innocent lady. 

w This is all my sister's work," cried the little fakir 
impetuously. " Alas, alas ! that ever the blood of Nazir 
Sahib should flow in the veins of so base a Chandala ! 
But O my fathers ! " he cried, suddenly starting into a 
new passion and gesticulating towards the gardens 
with frantic energy, " there is still worse woe in store 
for the innocent ones. Hide the poor lady, Chevalier! 
Hide her, if you value her life! Yonder comes her 
proud uncle, led on by that base-born son of a Sudra, 
Perrault. See where they come with torches in search 
of the absent lady, whom Perrault well knows is to be- 
found in this fatal place. We are too late ! " he added, 
dropping into the background. "The enemy is upon 
us." He was right, for before any of us could recover 
from the shock his disclosures occasioned, the Yiscount 

P , accompanied by Perrault, and a nephew of his, 

who happened to be visiting at the house when the 
absence of the unfortunate Lady Blanche was discov- 
ered, entered the apartment from the gardens without. 
Lady Blanche had, as I afterwards learned, been miss- 
ing since ten o'clock that evening. 

Knowing how fond she was of rambling through the 



GHOST LAND. 449 

gardens by moonlight, the domestics had been despatched 
in every direction to seek and recall her. Hour after 
hour passed away in fruitless search, and it was about 
an hour after midnight, and just as the infamous Per- 
rault knew that his sister's horrible scheme must be on 
the eve of accomplishment, that he appeared before the 
viscount, simulating haste and an eager desire to serve 
an afflicted family, with the terrible tidings that he had 
beeen informed by the famous Yaudoo woman, Anine, 

that I, "the Chevalier de B ," had been working 

charms to entice the hapless girl to my residence, and 
that she was in all probability there even at that very 
moment. When this piece of intelligence was first com- 
municated to the proud nobleman, the tale-bearer had 
nearly lost his life for his pains, so infuriated did the 
viscount become at what he deemed a shameful slander ; 
but when Perrault had succeeded in evading his first 
explosion of wrath, and reiterated again and again the 
truth of his assertions, the viscount called upon his 
nephew, who was then on a visit at his house, for advice 
and aid. It was agreed between them that Perrault 
should be their prisoner, and either make good his 
words or pay the penalty of their utterance. They 
compelled him, therefore, to enter the carriage with 
them, in which they drove off, with a speed inadequate 
to satisfy their frantic impatience, to my residence. 

Such were the circumstances that complicated the 
scene of misery which surrounded me on that fatal 
night. I believe it was to the preternatural power of 
the Byga, and the steady, calm friendship of Nanak Pai, 
that I owed the preservation of my senses throughout 
those trying hours ; certainly it was due to the latter's 
humanity and firm control over me that Madame Helene 
Laval and her infamous brother escaped from my hands 

29 



450 GHOST LAND. 

with their lives. It was also to the Brahmin's force of 
character, commanding presence, and clear, straightfor- 
ward explanation that I owed my own life, which the 
visconnt was determined to sacrifice the moment he 
found that the unfortunate Lady Blanche was in my 
chamber. 

" Be still, all of you," said the good man, w and listen 
to the story I have to tell." He then, in simple, earnest 
language, gave the sum of my fakir's narrative; a con- 
cise but scathing description of the arts practised by 
Madame Laval, and a glowing account of myself, 
and my incapacity, as he steadily affirmed, for the base 
part attributed to me. He dared Madame Laval or her 
brother to controvert his statements; and when both 
these wretched and baffled plotters w r ere silent, he 
pointed as the climax of his evidence, to the unfortu- 
nate girl, who, still under the spell of the somnambulic 
trance, lay extended on the divan where I had placed 
her. Putting me gently aside as I stood by to guard 
her, — the only poor act of reparation I could now 
make, — this kind and true gentleman, who was also a 
well-skilled magnetizer, took her tenderly by the hand, 
and set her on her feet, still unconscious as she was, in 
our midst. 

Her forlorn and wayworn appearance, her torn dress, 
blood-stained shoes, dishevelled curls, and the indescrib- 
able aspect of woe and innocence that marked those set 
and rigid features, the soiled and fluttering rags of her 
fleecy evening dress, and the fact that the hapless girl 
had been dragged for more than seven long miles 
through a rough country during a chill night, and 
amidst dangers that froze the blood to reflect upon, — 
all these circumstances combined, had the effect which 
the wise pleader expected they would. The viscount 



GHOST LAND. 451 

turned aside his head, and buried his face in his hand- 
kerchief; the good Brahmins murmured words of pity ; 
and even the ruthless enchantress was moved, and hid 
her face from the sight of her much-wronged victim in 
the folds of her veil. At that moment a strange phe- 
nomenon appeared amongst us. 

Above that young, sunny head, so beautiful, yet so 
touching in its innocence and desolation, appeared what 
seemed to be at first, a little glimmering light, a spark 
no larger than a fire-fly, which might have been impris- 
oned in her golden curls ; but presently it increased in 
size, expanded and diffused into a luminous, misty halo, 
which increased in extent and brilliancv until it formed 
a complete coronet of glory above and around the beau- 
tiful somnambulist's head. 

I know not what may have been the experience of 
others. I have frequently heard the spiritists since then 
describe the beauty of the spirit lights they have seen 
and the variety of the modes in which these luminous 
appearances were made visible. I only know that never 
before or since have I beheld any phenomenon of this 
kind, so directly in contact with a 'mortal, never any 
sign of angelic presence and guardianship that produced 
upon the witnesses so deep, reverent, and hallowing an 
influence. In the midst of the hush which ensued as 
this phenomenon became perfected, the good Brahmin 
said in his gentlest accents, " Blanche, my child, what 
brings you here? Answer as if you were in the pres- 
ence of your God." 

**S7ie is in the presence of her God, Brahmin," replied 
the entranced lips of Blanche, though the voice and 
accent was that of another. "Her spirit is with the 
angels, and a stronger than her shall answer you. 
There is the cause of her coming," and as she spoke, 



452 GHOST LAND. 

she advanced with a stately step towards the veiled 
figure of Helene, who was still held firmly by one of the 
Brahmins, — for the Byga was gone. With an authori- 
tative gesture she threw back Madame Laval's veil, and 
then said in a deep and searching tone, " Answer, Helene 
de Laval. Why have you brought hither Blanche Dud- 
ley? By what power and for what purpose? Answer! 
for you are in the presence of your God! " There was 
not an individual there who did not experience a thrill 
of awe as that slight creature, now seemingly a tall and 
stately presence, stood like an accusing angel, encircled 
by a halo of divine light, confronting her evil genius. 

"What have I done?" murmured the dark-browed 
sibyl, the psychological spell Evidently becoming re- 
versed, and the frail subject commanding the operator. 

" Speak the truth, Helene, and answer ! " repeated the 
beautiful ecstatic in a voice that made her enemy 
shudder. 

" I lured her hither by my power of will," muttered 
the sibyl, as if each word were wrung from her by 
tortures. 

"For what purpose?" thundered the viscount. "An- 
swer that, foul enchantress ! " 

But Helene heard him not; she was wholly in the 
power of one magnetizer, and under that spell she had 
no senses for any other. The hand of the somnambu- 
list was laid on her arm and she was enthralled. 

" For what purpose? " repeated Blanche, turning with 
mild dignity upon the viscount. " Can you ask? Know 
you not she purposed to destroy the name and fame of 
her victim?" 

" Let her confess it, then," said one of the Brahmins, 
fiercely. 

" Enough has been said to right the wrong and clear 



GHOST LAND. 453 

the innocent," answered the sleeper, with inexpressible 
sweetness and command. "Vengeance is mine, saith 
the Lord, I will requite;" then releasing the arm of 
Madame Laval, she clasped her own fair hands together, 
and raising her eyes to heaven w^ith an ecstatic expres- 
sion impossible to describe, she murmured, "Forgive 
us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass 
against us ! " 

The halo then gradually faded from her head. Nanak 
stretched out his arms to receive her, as a father would 
have sheltered his child; then raising her as if she had 
been an infant, at a sign from me he carried her through 
the glass doors, and down to where the viscount's car- 
riage waited below. It was then that, as if moved by a 
burst of honest indignation which would no longer endure 
repression, the fakir ^azir exclaimed, " She is a hard 
and cruel woman that ! " pointing to Helene, who stood 
confronting us all with an expression of the fiercest 
rage and hardihood. 

?c She deserves the reprobation of men as well as the 
judgments of Bramah. I know not how far she may 
have come with her poor victim, but I saw her riding in 
her carriage over the rough roads and stony paths, 
whilst the sweet young lady, in her unsheltered gar- 
ments and her little feet torn and bleeding, toiled on 
behind her. She went on like one in her sleep, ever 
straight forward, over rough ways and smooth, whilst 
yon woman leaned from her carriage-window, and beck- 
oned to her with her hand, and mocked her with her 
mouth, and laughed and jeered at her. I heard her 
cry, ? Faster, my gay bird ! Come on faster, faster yet ! 
I am guiding you to your bridegroom, my pretty piece 
of puri'ty, and we '11 have a fine wedding before the stars 
are set; and many a one shall hear how the fine Lady 



454 GHOST LAND. 

Blanche Dudley offered herself to an unwilling lover 
before another sun has set upon her dishonored head.' * 

I dashed my hand over the fakir's mouth and bade him 
be silent or I would call him to account for not rescuing 
her. Some of the Brahmins then took a kind leave of 
me, whilst others remained to offer me service. Leaving 
the detested brother and sister in their charge, and the 
fakir engaged in telling his story to the viscount, I 
went out to seek Nanak, whom I found standing at the 
carriage-window, speaking in his own kind, fatherly way, 
words of cheer and consolation to the now awakened 
lady, who was weeping bitterly. Gently pushing him 
aside I sprang into the carriage, and taking a seat by 
her side, with my arms closely folded round her, I whis- 
pered, " The day has dawned, my Blanche ; the day 
that is to see you leave not for your father's, but for 
your husband's home. 

" Let your maids attire you in your simplest, whitest 
robe, my Blanche. Let them smooth these poor, disor- 
dered tresses, and place in them the sweet white flowers 
I will send you, and at eight o'clock to-night I will be 
with you, and in the face of friends and enemies you 
shall give me a husband's right to shield you henceforth 
from every harm that may befall so long as you and I 
do stay in life on earth." A few more whispered words 
of cheer and promise, and then I left her. 

:c Your carriage waits you, madame," I said to the 
now closely-veiled form of the woman who encountered 
me on the threshold of my door. w No words ! There 
is your place." 

I saw my servants hand her in, and then bid the 
coachman drive her away. 

w Not so fast, sir ! " I said, as I saw her brother hasten- 
ing after the carriage, which he tried to detain. 



GHOST LAND. 455 

" Let me go ! " he screamed, as I seized and dragged 
him back. "You wouldn't murder me, would you? 
Help ! " he shouted. w I am being strangled, murdered ! " 

" What would you do, Louis ? " exclaimed Nanak, vainly 
trying to extricate the struggling wretch from my grasp. 
w Let him go, I say ! You shall not steep your soul in 
sin for such a worm as that. Nay, I command you by 
a word you must obey ! " 

The word was spoken and I was disarmed. 

w I '11 have a reckoning with him yet," I muttered, all 
the Hindoo in my veins rising against the wretch upon 
whom I had resolved to avenge his own no less than his 
sister's villany. At this moment the viscount and his 
nephew joined the Brahmin in pleading for the pol- 
troon's escape. 

Contenting myself for the present with hurling him 
amongst the bushes and rank weeds of the garden, I 
bid him remember, my hour of full requital was yet to 
come. 

That night, at eight o'clock, saw me the husband of 
sweet, pure, innocent Blanche Dudley. Her haughty 
uncle was well satisfied, and her own loving, guileless 
heart leaped with the purest joy she had ever known on 
earth. As to me, I bid farewell to my hopes of life 
amongst the stars, to the mysteries of the occult, my 
dreams of spiritual exaltation, and all my wanderings in 
the realms of supernal glory. 

Hopes and aspirations, — all w 7 ere dashed to the earth, 
and I set myself lovingly, tenderly to fulfil the life of new 
duties that honor and compassion had thrust upon me. 



CHAPTEE XXV. 

Blanche's diaky. 

It was just nine years from the time when I parted 
with the excellent friend whom I still delight to call by 
the familiar name of John Cavendish Dudley, that I 
became the husband of his most beloved and cherished 
youngest daughter. I knew that this event would fulfil 
the dearest wishes of himself and his amiable wife, but 
when I parted from him and listened to his pathetic 
lamentation that he might never hope to call me his son, 
little did I think that I should return to him in the very 
character he so earnestly desired me to fill. 

I had resolved to spend the year which succeeded my 
marriage in closing up every engagement that could 
bind me to the land of my birth. For eight months I 
spent my time partly in these arrangements and partly 
in the effort to embellish the life of the sweet and loving 
creature I had taken to my arms, if not entirely to my 
heart. Heaven knows how completely she deserved the 
devotion of heart, life, and all that life could give, in 
return for the sinless nature and undivided affection she 
laid upon the altar of her young heart's idolatry ! 

I had planned our departure for the close of our 
marriage year. It was all one to Blanche, — anywhere 
with me. To follow the movement of my finger, or 
anticipate the glance of my eye, made up the sum of 
her life's occupation; yet she was no mere automatic 



GHOST LAND. 457 

companion. Her bright intellect and vivid imagination 
might have far eclipsed her wayward husband's, had not 
her passionate admiration for him and her modest diffi- 
dence of herself, kept her own brilliant powers of mind 
in abeyance. 

Eight months had passed away, when duties of an 
urgent and personal nature demanded my presence in a 
distant province. My fair bride had scarcely quitted 
my sight since our marriage, yet now it was impossible 
for me to escape this journey, equally impossible that 
she should accompany me. The hated enemies to whom, 
if I owed them anything but abhorrence, I owed the 
precious boon of my little girl's companionship, had 
never appeared on the panorama of our lives since the 
momentous night described in the last chapter; indeed, 
I had not even heard of them, save a report that 
Madame Helene had become a devotee to a new sect of 
religionists just arisen in the land, and that her scoun- 
drel brother had succeeded in worming himself into a good 
official position. The very- names of these people were 
tabooed in my household and amongst all who visited 
us ; indeed, we saw but few persons who could remind 
us of them, for the circle in which my own and my 
Blanche's relatives moved were closed against them. 
Ho cloud dimmed the lustre of those sweet blue eyes, 
ever fixed on me with an expression of mute adoration. 

No sorrow had ever stained that blooming face with 
one tear, since the night when I called Blanche my own. 
Her aunt and uncle were very proud of her, and con- 
stantly urged us to spend our time with them, but she 
loved her husband's home better than any place on earth; 
and to care for the flowers I admired, arrange my books, 
statues, paintings, or make the old ruinous villa I rented, 
ring with the music of her delightful voice or the thrill- 



458 GHOST LAND. 

ing chords of her plaintive harp, was happiness enough 
for Blanche. 

My fakirs often entertained her with their wondrous 
feats of incomprehensible art, and even those apathetic 
ascetics would raise their dull heads and smile, or their 
veiled eyes would light up with gleams of pleasure, as 
they heard the ringing laugh of the bright fairy, or the 
merry sound of her little hands as she clapped them in 
wondering admiration at their tours de force. 

She had many living pets also amongst odd birds and 
stray animals whom she coaxed into companionship with 
her. She tooked great delight in K educating " them, as 
she called it, and talked to them as if they understood 
her. I think they did, and listened to her childish wis- 
dom and womanly play with as much solemn admira- 
tion as did any or all the dependents who approached 
her. 

But what did all this lead to? Let me turn again the 
pages of the only record that remains to tell how the 
last act was played out. That record is her own jour- 
nal, written evidently with a prophetic view of how it 
would some day be needed, and how it would become a 
silent witness of the tale no human lips have ever 
spoken. I found it in the loneliness of a cold and empty 
room from which the life had fled and the sunshine died 
out ; when the ringing laugh was hushed, the wonderful 
Voice silent, and the harpstrings run down or snapped 
forever. The extracts that relate to the crisis of which 
I am now writing ran thus: — 

w Jan. 10, 18 — . O mother, mother, how I wish you 
could see me now ! Dearest sisters, would you not al- 
most envy me? I do believe you would, just a little, — 
though all the time you would rejoice for me, for I am 
sure you used to admire that ? magnificent Chevalier^ 



GHOST LAND. 459 

as we were accustomed to call him, almost as much as I 

did when he was amongst us at N" . But O my 

mother and sisters ! what is the admiration which you 
and I and every one else must feel for my Louis, com- 
pared to the love which moves my heart, not because 
he is so handsome, but because he is himself, and O 
Heaven ! because he is so good and kind and dear to 
me ! How could I fail to love him? And yet I think you 
would laugh to see what a little creature I am, when I 
take his arm and try to look dignified and keep pace 
with him as we enter Uncle Frederick's salon, or go to 
the numerous receptions we have to attend. Louis is 
so tall and stately and splendid, whilst as to me, I am — 
no matter what. He says I am a " little sprig of summer 
and winter; a snow-flake and a rose-bud in one," and 
only just fit to stick in his button-hole. But ah, my 
mother! I wish you were near me just now. Shall I 
ever see you more, — ever, ever tell you how much bet- 
ter I have understood what mother's love is within the 
last few months? I know not. Aunt Emily tells me 
all young creatures, when they hover on the wonderful 
verge of the new path, the path that reaches heaven 
through the life of a new-born being, all tremble and 
shrink, and fear to enter upon that awful responsibility, 
and think they cannot live to go through with the 
mighty change. I have no fear; on the contrary, I 
have sometimes a hope, a strange, unnatural hope per- 
haps ; it is that my good and noble Louis, my generous 
husband, who never was my lover, only my friend and 
protector, — that he will be released again, and become 
free to follow the lead of his towering mind and lofty 
inspirations. I know not! I have written these words 
before, and feel now as if they were not true, for I do 
know; I know that in the midst of all my great joy, 



460 GHOST LAND. 

there is eyer a strange dimness upon me. Even when 
my Louis hides me away in his heart, — there where I 
am safest and strongest, or when I am looking up into 
his splendid eyes, so kind, so true, that everything false 
or unholy quails beneath them, even then the dimness 
comes, comes between me and the light that sparkles in 
the dark eyes of my Louis." 

w Jan. 20. There is a great secret constantly pressing 
upon my mind and ever urging me to confide in him; 
yet just as I am on the point of doing so, I see upon 
his face that sad, appealing look I have before referred 
to, that look which pierces my heart like the eye of Fate, 
and seems to plead with me to spare him further sorrow. 

" No, I have not the heart to tell him, and don't know 
that I shall ever be able to do so, though I think I ought. 
Would I could banish the remembrance of it ! Perhaps, 
if I write about it, it will fade away like the ghost of a 
haunting air, which only needs singing to chase it 
away. Yes, I w r ill write it down ; perhaps it may some 
day explain away what is mysterious when — when — I 
know not what. — That doubt of the future again! 
God 's future. Why then should I fear it? But to my 
secret. 

Just before I met my Louis for the first time in India, 
Helene, she whom I so loved once, and alas! so 
tenderly think of still, that Helene who was then so 
very dear to me, so kind, so wise, so strong, — she asked 
me for a long curl of my hair. She said it would serve 
to bring us together at any time, and I knew it would, 
for she proved it and taught me how. "When I gave 
her leave to cut off that curl, how I shivered, and felt as 
if a part of my life had gone out from me ; but I did not 
mind it then. . She asked me afterwards to give her 
a locket or something I had worn, to enclose a piece 



GHOST LAND. 461 

of the hair in. She was quite particular in asking for 
something that I had worn, so I gave her a small gold 
locket that my dearest sister Edith had given me for a 
keepsake when we were both children. Edith and I 
have exchanged many presents since then, so I did n't 
mind parting with this trifle to Helene, especially as she 
preferred it to all the other rich jewels I offered her. 
She had her name engraved upon it, and when she had 
enclosed a piece of my hair in it, she said my curl out- 
shone the gold it was enclosed in. 

That was a compliment worthy of my Chevalier, it 
was so like the sweet things he says to me ; but what he 
says is always true and like his own noble self, whilst as 
to Helene — ah me ! I wish she were as true and pure 
and good as he is. But that unfortunate lock of hair ! 
Oh, how I wish it were back on my head again or in my 
Louis's keeping ! "What would he say if he knew that 
lady still possessed it, besides having another piece in 
the locket I gave her? But then again she may have 
lost all interest in me, and forgot that she has such 
things in her possession, or, having them, the desire to 
use them may, — nay, must have passed away. I am 
nothing to her now, only a memory; perhaps not even 
that. Poor Helene! she had no female friend except 
me. I do think she loved me once, and sometimes I 
believe she must miss me. Oh, why could she not con- 
tinue to love me even though she did love Louis? That 
is nothing strange, — every one must love him; and as 
to her, she was so fascinating and in everything so far 
superior to me, that I should never have been surprised 
if he had preferred her to me." 

w Feb. 12. Alas, alas! I know too well now that 
Helene remembers that dreadful lock of hair. I fear 
me, too, she has been tempted to use it for — O Heaven ! 



462 GHOST LAND. 

how I shudder when I think of it — last night I was gone, 
I know not where. I am confident I was not sleeping, 
for I distinctly remember seeing the palm-trees waving 
in the breeze, and listening to the midnight songs of the 
boatmen as they floated down the river; and yet I was 
away somewhere, — away where my Louis could not 
reach me, away in some terrible imprisonment, in some 
place where I saw the form of Helene. I saw, too, that 
she wore a beautiful India muslin dress embroidered 
with gold, and that she stood somewhere near me, like a 
priestess of Valhalla, with her long, waving tresses of 
raven hair falling around her, crowned with a wreath of 
bay leaves. I know this scene was not a mere dream. 
I think it took place in some old temple where I have 
never been ; but O Heaven ! this may not be the end of 
it! "Would I had told Louis, but I could not, I could 
not ! Perhaps I shall have courage to do so to-morrow." 
w Feb. 15. Louis has gone away for three weeks. 
Louis is gone, and the sunlight has all gone with him. 
He has explained to me the urgency of the affairs that 
called him hence, and I knew he ought to go, so I never 
opposed him or tried to detain him. I knew I ought not 
to do so. He wished me to go and stay with my aunt, 
who was very urgent that I should do so ; but I pleaded 
to be allowed to remain here in my happy, happy home, 
with all my pets round me, and the tracery of my dearest 
love's presence on every side of me. Oh, I could not go 
away ! I could not leave such a scene, for my aunt's gay 
home, with so many visitors coming and going all day, 
and nothing there of Louis except that splendid portrait 
of him my uncle has had painted, just for every one that 
comes in to admire, as of course every one does. I know 
my kind Louis feared to hurt me by opposing my wishes, 
so he consented to let me stay, but I heard him charging 



GHOST LAND. 463 

my aunt so earnestly to come and see me every day, and 
besides that he has filled the house with so many attend- 
ants, and left so many persons in charge of me, that I am 
never alone. This would trouble me a little if I did not 
perceive in it fresh evidences of his tender care. I dare 
not trust myself to write anything about his absence, but 
it is a wonderful joy to me to know that he will be home 
again in three weeks. Three weeks ! Ah me ! the sun 
will shine upon me then, though all is so dark and deso- 
late now." 

" Feb. 19. Heaven have mercy on me! The worst 
has come at last. O misery unutterable ! "Where shall 
I go, what shall I do to escape this awful fate? O 
Louis, Louis! where are you and why can you not 
realize the shipwreck and woe that has befallen your 
unhappy * fairy ' ? 

"Last night Helene called me away, dragged my 
spirit forth, though she mercifully left my helpless, woe- 
ful body sleeping in my bed. Alas, alas! what an 
afflicted, captive soul was mine as I stood in her pres- 
ence, with her dark and dreadful brother by her side, 
and all around them a crowd of awful shapes, demons, 
or elementaries, I know not which or what ! O cruel, 
remorseless woman ! "What have I ever done to deserve 
such a dreadful doom? She mocked and taunted me, 
told me she could control me, body and soul, and I felt 
too well she could. 

"I saw my fatal lock of hair, half consumed and 
crisped by fire, laying on an altar that might have been 
dedicated to the dark god, Juggernaut. I knew when 
I was called ; I knew that I must go, for I felt the sharp 
sting of the burning lock upon my forehead, and ere I 
had time to pray, or call upon thee, my Louis, lo ! I was 
there. O Heaven, pity me ! Angels of mercy, help me ! 



464 GHOST LAND. 

There is still so much left of that fatal lock of hair that 
I know not how many more times she may summon me, 
nor when, nor how, those fiendish rites may be exer- 
cised again. I have prayed all night and day since 
then, and believe I am at last a little stronger. To-day 
a fresh calamity has befallen me. My uncle, who has 
been so very kind to me, my poor uncle, who seems to 
have become so fond of me, went up the country some 
forty miles on official business, and has been seized with 
malarious fever. My dear, good aunt has been obliged 
to join him, and I have lent her my best ayah to help 
her nurse him. I fear Louis would not be pleased if he 
knew my nurse was gone, because she is so good, so 

much better a physician than poor, stupid Dr. S . 

Why could he not see this morning how worn and sad I 
was? Alas, no one knows me but Louis, and he is so 
far away ! How lonely and deserted this place appears 
to be, and oh, the dimness ! it has now become quite a 
thick cloud. 

"I believe I could summon Louis if I were to try, 
and send out this trembling soul of mine to fetch him 
home, but I know how fearfully sensitive he is, and what 
terrible pangs he would suffer before he could reach 
me. j^o, no ! I cannot brave the consequences. 

"He has been gone ten days now. A little more than 
another week, and he will return. I will tell him all 
then, and I know he will and can save me, at least 
before nry time of trial comes." 

"Feb. 22. Again, again! Another fearful ordeal! 
Last night they called me again, and there was none to 
save me. Surely, surely, God has forgotten me, and 
good angels have deserted me ! " 

"Feb. 25. Oh, joy, joy! The lock of hair has 
been restored to me, and now it is burned, consumed in 



GHOST LAND. 465 

the fire my Louis calls so sacred, and I am saved, at 
least till Louis returns, and then what power can harm 
me ? Still, he shall know it all, and I will write it down 
just as it happened, so that he may know everything 
correctly. Early yesterday morning whilst I was 
absorbed in lamentation, wringing my hands, and pray- 
ing that Heaven would send me help, who should I see 
crossing the veranda and stopping opposite my couch, 
with low obeisances, but that dear, good, droll little 
fakir, ]N~azir, the little sprite whom my Louis likes so 
well and who made such pleasant entertainment for us 
when we were first niarried. 

r I had not seen him for a long time because he has 
been away on a pilgrimage, he said ; but he had now 
returned, and brought with him a pair of those sweet 
birds we call in England *love birds.' He brought 
them as a present to me, the precious little ones ! He 
said they were not half good enough for me. Poor little 
'Nazir ! but I answered him that I thought it was just 
like his fatherly care to bring me such a present. Then 
the good little fakir asked if he could do nothing else 
for me; was I quite sure? no commission that he could 
execute, — nothing that madame could think of which 
Sahib could do to beguile her loneliness? It seemed 
strange that he should linger so; stranger still that 
just then I could think of nothing for him to do, though 
I knew it would please him so much to be of use to 
me, — the kind heart ! 

w At last I remembered that fatal lock of hair. The 
memory of it came upon me like a thunder-cloud just 
as I was making friends with my little buds. Then as 
it all came back to me, I told Nazir the whole story, and 
asked him what I could do until my husband returned 
to help me. Good Nazir! he is a man after all, though 

30 



4:66 GHOST LAND. 

he is a fakir, and has a heart though he has studied how 
to encase it in a crust of seeming apathy. He frowned 
darkly when I mentioned Helene's name, but when I 
told him how they had treated me I thought the sparks 
of fire emitted by his glittering black eyes would have 
consumed Helene had she beheld their lurid glare. 

""When all was told, he said, literally hissing between 
his clenched teeth, r Madame shall have her golden lock 
again; the sun of my lord's existence shall have the 
shorn beam restored to her.' 

w Oh, how glad I was when I heard these words ! I 
knew that Nazir had done more wonderful things than 
spiriting away a little lock of hair. At one of my hus- 
band's dinner parties, three fakirs caused a whole set 
of china to walk across the floor, and wait on each 
member of the company separately; they brought 
jewels through the air from my aunt's dressing-room, 
seven miles away, and caused my uncle's cane to leave 
our house, fly through the air, I suppose, and drop 
down before the family, as they sat at dinner two miles 
.distant. Oh, I felt sure Nazir could restore my lock 
of hair. "Why did I not think of that before? 

"Just one hour ago I went into my dressing-room, and 
there I saw Granger, my English maid, standing like a 
statue of fright, bending over something that lay upon 
the ground just inside the French window. ( Look 
there, my lady,' she cried, *what can that be on the 
ground?' 

"I looked and saw what it was in a moment, and 
requested her quite calmly to pick it up and hand it to 
me. It was indeed my poor lock of hair, tumbled, 
soiled, and half-burned; still it was mine, and that was 
all I cared for ; but that was not the only thing there ; 
by the side of the hair lay Helene's locket ! O Nazir ! 



GHOST LAND. 467 

that was quite wrong, and far exceeded your commis- 
sion. I never meant that he should have taken that 
locket away. Why, that is stealing, and a very ugly 
way of stealing, too ! I must have the hair taken out, 
and Nazir must just spirit the locket back again in the 
same manner that he abstracted it. I shall be perfectly 
miserable until it is returned. "What an error to com- 
mit! I hope he will come to-morrow and enable me to 
return it before she discovers her loss. If she still per- 
severes in her wicked designs against me, and finds the 
hair gone, as hair I know is a very essential part of 
the dreadful invocation, of course she will resort to 
the little piece in the locket, and if that is missing too, 
I don't know what she may think." 

w Feb. 24. The whole day has passed, and that tire- 
some Nazir has not made his appearance. I feel so safe 
and composed now that I have my lock of hair again, that 
I can afford to be a little troubled about the locket. Still 
I wish my good, kind little fakir would come. I cannot 
rest till that fatal jewel is out of my possession. It 
seems to cast such an evil spell upon me that I cannot 
shake off its effects. !No ! not though I am holding in 
my hand another precious letter from the star of my ex- 
istence. Sweet, fragrant leaves are between the pages, 
but oh, how much more fragrant is the aroma of good- 
ness and protective care and kindest sympathy that 
breathes through these precious lines! He is coming 
home soon, and says, home is where I am. Oh, thank 
Heaven he is coming ! "Would he were here now ! How 
coldly the stars gleam upon me to-night; and I have a 
strange fancy, as I look at them, that they seem to be 
calling me away. This old house is full of sounds, but 
I never feared them till to-night. Hark ! there 's another 
string of my poor harp gone. No, surely it is a hand 



468 GHOST LAND. 

wandering amidst the strings! Can it be a hand? Per- 
haps it is only the night breezes. How they sigh and 
moan amongst the tall palms! They sound like the 
rushing winds of our own Scottish moors rather than 
the balmy breathings of a tropic land. If there are spir- 
its of the air abroad this night, they are calling me hence, 
for surely I hear my name sounding amongst the tree- 
tops. There it is again ! Blanche, Blanche ! come home ! 
Who is it that calls? Home is where my Louis is. Oh, 
will they take me from him? . . . Granger has just 
been here to inquire whose voices were singing in my 
chamber. Poor girl ! how terrified she was when I could 
not answer her. My people creep about the house and 
look so strangely upon me. There is a mortal fear upon 
them all to-night, and I can not now sustain and cheer 
them as I used to do when I was a gay girl at home. 
How calm I was when my Louis slept so long, that all 
around thought him dead but me, and I crept to his 
side and gazed upon him, and thought how beautiful he 
looked. I wish I could recall the courage of those days 
now. Hark! some one is pacing my chamber. Who 
can it be? Now the footsteps die away, and — now some 
hand is on my harp again. That is not the wind; 
those chords resound beneath a master's touch. O 
Heaven! what a sad and mournful strain that was. 
Who could the player be? O spirits of the solemn 
stars; bright planetary angels! You who know so well, 
and love my Louis, — oh, protect and guard him ! And 
if it is thy will, Father of spirits, return him to this sad 
and lonely heart of mine ere I go hence! Louis, my 
Louis, star-beam of my soul ! would thou wert with me 
now ! Good-night, dear love, good-night." 



CHAPTEK XXVI. 

HOW I RETURNED TO EUROPE. 

w Good-night, dear love, good-night ! " This was 
the last entry in that journal wherein a pure and inno- 
cent heart had poured out in every line the treasures of 
an unrequited love ; in which such mines of unwrought 
gold were opened up to the gaze of the shipwrecked 
man, who only realized their true value at the moment 
when he was to behold them all sinking in the ocean 
of a vanished past. 

Her diary ends with those words of tender farewell, 
and to me has fallen the task of finishing up the his- 
tory. I have set myself this work to do for a special 
purpose, and painful as it is I must fulfil it 

Since the night when I determined to devote myself 
to the care and protection of John Dudley's child, I had 
silently but resolutely abandoned my pursuit of the 
occult, my association with the various societies with 
which I had been connected, and all that formerly fas- 
cinated me and filled my soul with spiritual light and 
knowledge. I felt that the new duties I had voluntarily 
incurred, must not be divided with the old pursuits, and 
whilst I could not overcome the bitter disappointment I 
felt at being thus shut out from the realms of the 
unseen, in communion with which I had lived from 
boyhood, I never faltered in my purpose. I knew then 
and still believe, that the devotion so absolutely required 



470 GHOST LAND. 

to attain to the highest good in any condition of life 
admits of no compromise or divided interests. To 
stifle my heart's yearnings for the spiritual in which 
my whole being had been bound up, I plunged into 
the cares of public life, the duties of home, and the 
entertainment of my sweet bride, as if I had never 
known any other aims or employments. I devoted 
myself, moreover, to all those materialistic occupations 
with a restless and untiring energy which left me no 
time to think. 

I accompanied my young wife and her friends to all 
the various scenes which I thought would interest them, 
and although I permitted my fakirs to amuse them with 
feats of occult art, I never took part in them, or suffered 
myself for one moment to brood over my altered career. 
This abandonment of my past life's dearest aspirations 
cost me many a pang, but I never thought my fairy 
understood this until I read her precious confidences to 
herself, and that at a time when all chance of changing 
the tide of her regrets was at an end. 

During my enforced absence from her, I began to 
realize the monitions of my true nature crowding in 
upon me again. Visions haunted my pillow, voices 
sounded in my ears, and the fluttering wings of other 
worlds of being stirred the air around me. I steadily 
resisted these phenomena up to one dreadful night, when 
a vision of such intense horror flitted before me, that I 
was compelled to spring from my bed, dress hastily, 
and spend the rest of the night pacing the streets ere I 
could regain peace of mind and composure. The next 
night and the next, witnessed a recurrence of the same 
horrible representations, and on each occasion they 
forced upon my mind the conviction that what I beheld 
was the reflex of an actuality, not the mere distorted 



GHOST LAND. 471 

images of an unquiet vision. I saw, or seemed to see, 
my fair young bride dragged before an altar, where a 
scene of "black magic" was being enacted, and the 
forms of Helene Laval and her infamous brother were 
the presiding demons of the foul rites. I could almost 
hear the voices of these remorseless fiends mocking, 
insulting, and taunting my gentle wife, whilst I, a bound 
and helpless captive, stood looking on in vacant imbe- 
cility. 

At first I regarded these representations as the result 
of an overstrained condition of mind, but at length 
their resistless force made their recurrence unendur- 
able, and I was compelled to accept their spectral 
imagery as visions of prophetic if not of present 
reality. Spirit voices, too, — the spirits of those I had 
known and loved, but whom I had abandoned, whilst I 
sullenly complained that in thickening the mists of my 
destiny upon me they had abandoned me — now sounded 
in my ears, and in tones like muttering thunder, tones 
that could not be mistaken, insisted on being heard. 
They assured me of their constant love and untiring 
affection; pointed out to me the impossibility of their 
interference to alter my fate or change the purposes of 
the Infinite; they reminded me that whilst they could 
neither make nor mar the scheme in which the Creator 
had spun the woof of every living creature's destiny on 
an immutable plan, they were still commissioned to dis- 
pense in angelic ministry the strength which would 
enable me to bear the shafts of affliction and the wis- 
dom which must overrule all things for good. They 
would be heard; they would enclose me in their arms 
of love; and in the names of those I had known and 
trusted on earth I was bidden to arise from my attitude 
of rebellion against the power of the spirits, and when I 



472 GHOST LAND. 

bent my stubborn soul and once more leaned in sub- 
mission upon them, I was warned to depart for my 
home, to ride for life and death, by day and night, not 
to pause or linger, but hasten to her to whom I had 
been given as her earthly protector; to her whom I 
could not save from an inevitable fate, though I might 
share it with her and help her to endure it. 

The constant echo of my present life, is a hymn of 
thankfulness that I did at last listen to these spirit 
voices and obey them. 

Summoning my servants around me I distributed to 
each his task. Like the pilgrims of the ancient pass- 
over, we each fulfilled the duties I marked out with a 
speed which admitted of no let or hindrance. When 
all my arrangements were completed, I set out on my 
journey alone, and partly by train, partly on horseback, 
travelled two hundred miles to Calcutta, with an urgent 
haste that increased every instant as I neared the city. 
The last twenty miles I rode, in the heat of a scorching 
day, on horseback. The train which I might have 
taken, had I waited, would not leave till night, but the 
impetuous eagerness to which I had worked myself up, 
would have urged me to go on foot, had I been unable 
to hire horses to carry me. As it was, I had to change 
them every hour, for I loved and pitied the noble animals 
and would not for worlds have subjected them to the 
heat and toil of a journey, the hardships of which 
seemed to have lost all effect upon me. As I rode on, 
the voices deepened to the roar of a torrent in my ears, 
and the shadows of impending fate closed down so 
thickly upon me that I could see nothing but my little 
girl, forlorn, wayworn, and broken-hearted, just as I 
had beheld her on the dreadful night when the spell of 
the foul enchantress lured her to my home. 



. GHOST LAND. 473 

Five miles from the city, a little, dusty, wayworn 
figure threw itself before my horse and with much diffi- 
culty succeeded in stopping my headlong career. It 
was the fakir ^azir; he would speak, he must, he said, 
- speak with me, and as he leaned breathless against my 
panting horse, he poured out a horrible, an almost 
incredible story. My wife, my fair and gentle wife, that 
delicately nurtured lady who had never known any 
ruder shelter than the luxurious homes of her father and 
husband, was in a common prison, thrown there under 
charge of stealing a gold locket from Madame Helene 
Laval. The shocking tale, poured out amidst tears — 
ay! actually tears from those unused eyes that had 
never wept before — was this. He told me how at the 
lady's supplication he had spirited away her fatal lock of 
hair, but finding that another portion of this precious 
talismanic curl was enclosed in a gold locket, and fear- 
ing that if this remained, the base enchantress would 
still torment her victim, he had rashly added that pal- 
try jewel to the abstracted lock. 

It would seem that the loss of these means to work 
injury, was realized almost immediately. Madame 
Laval, who no doubt suspected the nature of the arts 
as well as the source by which she was thus baffled, 
sent for a Chulah, and by means of one of these 
singular and expert conjurers, a "magic ball" was set 
in motion, which she was assured would travel on, and, 
followed by the conjurer, never stop until it reached 
the place where the lost jewel was to be found. Nazir 
rightly conjectured this explanation of the mode in which 
it was ascertained that the lost locket was in my house. 
He had met the operator, he said, who confessed to him 
there was some power which prevented his crossing my 
threshold, at which point the magic ball became sud- 



474 GHOST LAND. 

denly arrested. The fact that it was traced thus far, 
however, must have been sufficient for the plotters, 
who availed themselves of this clew to follow out the 
rest of their hellish plan. 

What I afterwards learned let me here state in brief. 
The vile brother and sister knew I was far away from 
my hapless wife. They doubtless suspected the power 
by which the unfortunate lady had obtained possession 
of the missing locket, and convinced by their magi- 
cian's art that it was still in my house, they secretly and 
swiftly executed their direful plan of vengeance. 

By aid of an immense bribe and the civic influence 
possessed by Perrault, the remorseless wretches first 
obtained a warrant to search my house, where the miss- 
ing locket was immediately discovered; they then pro- 
ceeded to arrest my hapless girl, my little sinless fairy, 
the high-born Lady Blanche, and actually removed her 
to a common felon's prison, before, as I have since had 
reason to believe, the city magistrates or any officials, 
save a set of hired, bribed, and remorseless myrmidons, 
knew aught of the shameful transaction. 

It was not until night of that same fatal day, the 
fakir added, that he, who had been out of the city, re- 
turned to find the woe and wreck his indiscretion had 
occasioned. Graham, the viscount, all my friends were 
absent or not to be found till night. My servants scat- 
tered themselves in every direction to seek for help, but 
none of them really understood the facts of what had 
happened until Nazir returned and in frantic self-accu- 
sation ran from place to place, rousing my friends and 
telling his shocking story. Still the night had to elapse 
before aid and rescue could be procured, and then — it 
came too late, too late ! 

What the miserable and insane persecutors expected 



GHOST LAND. 475 

to effect by their daring act, none can say. They must 
have known that the entire commnnity would rise 
against them, and their horrible act of vengeance recoil 
on themselves with crushing force. As it was, they 
were so swift in their work, and kept it so silent and 
secret for many hours, that it was not until the fakir's 
return, that the tidings became noised abroad, and rescue 
could be obtained. The viscount and his lady were at 
length reached, the magistrates apprised of the horrible 
plot, and my entire circle of friends aroused by the 
indomitable energy and remorse of the unhappy Nazir. 
Friends and officials alike had hastened to the prison 
to release the unfortunate girl. "Why she was still 
there and could not be removed, alas, alas ! I too well 
knew. I could hear no more ; indeed, I knew nothing 
more until I reached the city, and my servants crowded 
round me with assistance, for the horse I rode, fell at 
the gate of my own house, — my house ail void and 
empty now! How I reached the prison I know not, 
or how, or whether, the darkness that fell around my 
way was in the air or in my own dim eyes. 

Every gate was opened, and many hands were out- 
stretched to me as I made my way from point to point 
and passed gloomy cells and through damp, dark pas- 
sages. Fit resting-place for my fairy bride! Meet 
shelter for a crushed and broken flower like her! 

Presently the Viscount R , very pale and very 

kind, and several of my brother officers encountered me. 
I never paused to greet them, though they surrounded 
me and would have kept me back. I heard many voices 
speaking in tones of deep sympathy, indignation, and 
regret. 

I never answered them. I did not speak, I had no 
thought but of her, — knew nothing but her. 



476 GHOST LAND. 

As I passed on I was met at the threshold of an 
open door by the viscountess and a group of women, 
one of whom, my wife's favorite ayah, held a small 
bundle in her arms. As I advanced she removed the 
folds of a dainty shawl and showed me the face of a 
dead child. I stopped and kissed it and then passed 
on, — on till I reached a wretched pallet gorgeously 
covered with splendid shawls and strewed with fragrant 
flowers. I heard a wild cry, — my name pronounced 
in those soft, tender accents so like the tones of her 
own broken harp, — white arms wound round me, soft 
hands clasping my neck, a fair golden head nestling in 
my bosom, and — so she died. 

Back in the old ruinous house, ruins covered up with 
gorgeous art until it had on*ce shone like a fairy palace ; 
back in the house she had so loved and where her pres- 
ence had made the place a paradise, amidst the flowers 
and bloom, the pale statues, and deep, unbroken silence ; 
back with my fairy bride and my dead child, — alone 
and still and quiet, I spent that long, long night, whilst 
the storm of fierce passion, prompting men to riot and 
ruin, filled the streets without. The real truths that 
surround great tragedies are never known to the world, 
but there is an element of generosity in public sentiment, 
a depth of honest manliness in the human heart which, 
however crowded down by the artifices and sordid cares 
of civilization, can always be aroused to indignant pro- 
test by the action of injustice or wanton cruelty. Such 
a sentiment seemed to have been awakened by the 
impassioned utterances of my poor little fakir, who, in 
his frantic anxiety to right the great wrong done to his 
hapless lady had again exceeded the bounds of prudence 
in declaiming against the authors of the cruel deed. 

The viscount had made strenuous efforts to keep the 



GHOST LAND. 477 

matter secret, fearing lest its publication in some gar- 
bled form should attach disgrace to his noble family; 
in fact he had caused the report to be industriously 
circulated, that the lady so shamefully wronged was 
a domestic attached to his wife's household, not one 
of his own immediate connections, — an interpretation 
of the tale which I believe prevails to this day in the 
city where this great tragedy of my life really occurred. 

A portion of the populace, who had learned something 
of the fakir's story, and with it understood that the 
lady's imprisonment and death were connected with the 
enchantments practised by the well-known adventuress, 
Madame Laval, had surrounded her house, and with- 
out further inquiry into the right or wrong of what 
they did, had burned it to the ground. All this caused 
a restless wave of riot and destruction to surge through 
the streets that night which might have disturbed any 
sleep but hers, or aroused any mourning but such as 
mine ; but the storm raged on, — we were all still and 
quiet within. 

It was about nine o'clock the next night that I left 
my house, — a home no longer, fc — accompanied by Capt. 

Graham and Col. M , a noble-hearted gentleman, 

between whom and myself a warm friendship subsisted. 

We threaded our way through the lowest and most 
obscure part of the city, until we gained the miserable 
hut which Graham and I had before visited, the dwell- 
ing of Anine, the sister of Nazir. The door was barred 
and bolted within, but at my signal IsTazir himself 
opened it, and after carefully fastening it again, led me 
on from the dwelling through several courts and ruinous 
buildings, when we gained the door which I knew led 
into the halls where we had witnessed the scenes of 
"black magic" described in a previous chapter. We 



478 GHOST LAND. 

crossed the outer hall, and paused before the entrance 
which led to the interior chamber. Here I stopped to 
gain breath and strength enough to proceed, but whilst 
I leaned against the door, I heard the voices of those I 
came to seek, the accursed brother and sister who had 
wrought my great ruin, in angry altercation within. 
The sound of those hateful tones supplied the stimulus 
I needed and impelled me at once to push open the door 
and enter. Crouching on the threshold inside was Anine, 
awaiting our coming, according to Nazir's directions. 

Perrault and his sister had, it seemed, sought tempo- 
rary shelter there, fearing to trust themselves to the 
rage of an excited populace in the streets. They were 
both seated at a table on which refreshments were 
spread, but the altar, braziers, and all the abominable 
paraphernalia of fetish rites, were strewed around in 
disorder and neglect. The guilty pair started to their 
feet as we entered, and the woman uttered a faint cry 
of alarm. Our plans were already laid, however, and 
no time was lost in idle parley. Graham and the fakir 

seized Perrault, and Col. M , laying his hand firmly 

on Madame Laval's arm, told her sternly that the least 
cry or attempt at resistance would cost them both their 
lives. I then proceeded to cut to pieces the fatal pic- 
tures of myself and their victim, — which last they had 
recently hung up beside my own, — throw down and 
stamp upon the waxen images, and break up or rend 
apart all the instruments and machinery of their vile art. 

Anine, under my directions, then gathered up the 
fragments in a heap, cast them into a large, dry, stone 
tank, and set fire to them. All this I did without haste, 
rage, or passion. I was very calm, and conducted my 
work with the utmost deliberation. When this was 
accomplished, I directed Anine and the fakir to take 



GHOST LAND. 479 

charge of Madame Laval, towards whom I never once 
trusted myself to look, nor did I speak to or notice 
her, although she often addressed me in terms of sup- 
plication. I then motioned my friends to retire to one 
of the large, desolate courts which we had before crossed, 
leading the brother and sister prisoners with us. 

Arrived at our destination, Col. M addressed 

Perrault, and without enlarging upon the misery he 
and his accomplices had wrought, he simply told him 
the hour of reckoning so long ago promised had arrived. 
He reminded them both that they were utterly at our 
mercy; that a dreadful fate awaited them should we, as 
we might, give them up to justice, but instead, I had 
resolved, little as he deserved such grace, to deal with 
him as if lie were a gentleman, rather than what he 
was ; in short, that I was now prepared to give him the 
only chance for his life which mortal combat afforded. 

Without suffering him to answer, the colonel directed 
him to assume a position opposite me, and briefly, yet 
still with the military courtesy which never for one 
moment forsook him, introduced him to Graham, who 
had, with the utmost reluctance and disgust, consented 
for my sake to act as Perrault's second. 

Baffled and hopeless, the trembling coward took the 
place assigned him, exchanged a few words of formal- 
ity with Graham, received from him one of my pistols, 
and instantly, without waiting for the dropping of 
the handkerchief, which was the signal agreed upon 
for firing, discharged the weapon at me. Whether 
the treacherous villain's hand shook or he was but an 
indifferent marksman I know not, but the shot was ill 
sped and only took effect upon my left arm. 

Furious at this murderous act, my gallant friends 
seized him on either side, and shouting to me to kill him, 



480 GHOST LAND. 

bravely held him between them, awaiting the result of 
my fire. My aim was deliberate and my purpose fixed. I 
determined not to charge my soul with an act of murder 
for so worthless a being, I would only maim him for life. 
I said as much before I drew the trigger, and then 
fired, and I know succeeded in my design. He fell, but 
not to die. Better for him if he had. After this deed 
of retribution, my friends and myself quitted the 
accursed spot forever. 

It had been my intention to proceed to England 
immediately, taking with me all that I now had to return 
to the bereaved father of his precious child, contained 
in a splendid sarcophagus ; but I had drawn too largely 
on the forces of Nature and she demanded immunity for 
the heavy draught. For many weeks I hovered between 
life and death, consumed by a raging fever. 

The viscount and his kind wife, to both of whom I had 
become very dear, desired to have me removed to their 
own country seat, but though by their provident care 
my once bright home had been despoiled, shut up, 
and all my household dispersed, it was not to their 
house that I was carried. My kind and loving friend, 
Nanak Rai, claimed the charge of me, and attended only 
by my well-tried and faithful Arab servant Ali, I was 
conveyed to his residence, where he watched and min- 
istered to me with the skill of a physician and the care 
of a tender father. 

For many a long day and succeeding week, this 
excellent friend's untiring efforts were exerted to 
snatch me from the confines of the grave. With his 
remarkable skill, and under his benign and holy influ- 
ence, I became at length restored to health alike of 
body and mind. 

In the peaceful retirement of his home, I became also 



GHOST LAND, 481 

reconciled to myself, my fate, and the ministry of the 
angels whom I had once so sullenly rejected. All my 
spiritual powers and aspirations returned to me, but 
returned with a nearer and dearer sense of the sweet 
companionship which the spirits of beloved earthly 
friends alone can bring. How many times during my 
long nights of weariness and pain, have I heard the 
light step of my fairy, running through the hall, and 
stopping just as she used to do when she meant to 
surprise me, and then stealing close, very close to me ! 
Her ringing laugh sounded softly, though still very sub- 
dued in my ears, her golden tresses swept over my 
burning face, and her tender tones once more whis- 
pered words of love and consolation, ever ending by a 
promise of " the rest in heaven," to which she had her- 
self attained. 

Good and gracious Father of spirits, with what deep 
ingratitude and pitiful self-denial do poor mortals reject 
thy best blessing, when they refuse to accept or scoff at, 
the precious truths of spiritual communion! 

The thirty years of life experience, the summary of 
which I have sketched out in these pages, have pointed 
candidly and dispassionately to the abuse as well as 
the use of the vast and wondrous powers that lay 
occultly hidden away in man, and the unseen universe 
by which he is surrounded. But whatever may be the 
dangers, terrors, and mysteries of occultism, let suffer- 
ing humanity assure itself there is ever an angel side 
to this realm of being, one on which the soul may lean 
as the anchor let down for its support from the hand of 
the Creator. 

Had it not been for the power which bridged over the 
Lethean river that separated me from all that I had 
loved on earth, health might have resumed her sway, 

31 



482 GHOST LAND. 

but reason would have fled from its shattered throne 
within my mind forever. One by one I had seen the 
fondest, the truest, the best, all upon whom I had 
anchored my warmest affections, fall by my side, vanish 
from my sight, and leave me alone. With a. heart full 
of passionate impulses veiled by the cold exterior of 
disciplined asceticism, I had been compelled to see 
every tie of affection snapped, every earthly hope 
shipwrecked. 

I had borne so much and strained at the cords of 
mental effort with such fearful energy, that I know I 
must have become a raving lunatic if I had turned 
despairing glances to the land of the hereafter, and 
sought in vain there for my vanished loves and my own 
goal of rest. 

Looking through the eyes of my beloved ones, as they 
all returned to me, one by one, each assuming his or her 
place in the bright procession, with all the well-remem- 
bered tokens that could bring me the assurance there 
was no death, only change, I could see bright angels, 
higher still than the spirits of earth, and a Deity over all, 
upon whom I could lean my trembling soul and be at 
rest. Once more the tides of spiritual life and force 
rolled in upon the storm-beaten shores of my destiny; 
once more the grand scheme of the universe and the 
philosophy of existence was unrolled before me. I 
began again to recognize myself as the link between 
the lower and higher worlds, at the same time that I 
learned the necessity of hedging in the aspiring intellect 
by the safe boundary lines of matter and mystery, lest 
the soul, penetrating too far into the arcanum of the 
illimitable beyond, should become lost, wrecked, over- 
whelmed in immensities of being, too vast for finite 
humanity to comprehend. 



GHOST LAND. 483 

I know I have not always remembered or applied these 
salutary lessons. Removed from the wise and philosophic 
teachings of my excellent Brahminical friend, restored to 
health and reconciled to myself, my angels, and my des- 
tiny, the spring of my wild aspirations has impelled me 
into the profoundest realms of occultism, into the depths 
yawning beneath my feet, and the heights stretching 
away above my head; piercing the path of the stars and 
plunging into regions of mystery beyond the safe lim- 
itations of human spiritual guidance. 

In scaling these tremendous ladders of knowledge, I 
have experienced many a fearful fall, paid many a heavy 
penalty. Again and again I have returned from these 
awful pilgrimages with a wounded, bruised, and way- 
worn spirit; but ever, as I came, I have found rest, peace, 
and consolation in the loving ministration of earth's 
enfranchised spirit friends. I have learned to believe 
that communion between the denizens of this planet and 
her spirit spheres, should constitute the highest, purest, 
most normal and healthful exercise of our soul's reli- 
gious faculties. Mortals have but an imperfect realiza- 
tion of this sublime truth, amidst the folly, fanaticism, 
wrong, and imposture that have disgraced the movement 
miscalled Spiritualism, — a movement which has served 
to externalize much of the darkest features of human 
nature, but as yet has been permitted to do little more 
than point to the mines of unwrought treasure that lay 
hidden beneath the possibilities of that communion. As 
yet it is all too human and too redolent of human 
short-comings. 

I dare not pause now even to hint at what we may 
hope for in the better day of spiritual communion, when 
its modus operandi shall be understood by science, and 
its sublime revelations be received in the spirit of 



484 GHOST LAND. 

religious reverence. Time and space, however, I now 
find have become limited in this volume to a closing 
sentence. 

When strength of mind and body returned to me, I 
left my noble friend's peaceful dwelling with the beni- 
son of a thankful heart upon its hospitable roof-tree. 
Then I stood once more on shipboard, waving farewell 
to groups of the dear and warm-hearted friends who had 
trod with me life's rough and rugged paths in India; 
and with many a "God-speed" sounding in my ears, 
and many a moistened eye following the track of the 
ship out into the pathless wastes of ocean, sailed 
away to commence a new career of research into the 
realms of spiritual existence. 



EDITOR'S NOTE IN CONCLUSION. 



The reader will observe that the foregoing sketches only account for 
ten years of the author's career after Ms departure from England, and 
constitute simply one portion of the u Ghost Land" papers, the 
remainder of which include an equally interesting and thrilling record 
extending over nearly twenty years more of the author's eventful and 
varied experiences in occult spiritism, many of which I have shared 
with him. As the ample dimensions of this volume forbid further 
additions, I take advantage of the epoch recorded in -the last chapter to 
close these sketches, at least for the present. 

By the favor of the author, I am in possession of another series of 
papers from his pen, of even more importance to the thinking part of the 
community than either of his previous works. This valuable MSS. I 
hope to present to the world on some future occasion. 

Time and experience invariably regulate the demands of public opinion 
for the quality of the literature it can assimilate. Guided by that stan- 
dard, no less than the means open to me, I shall determine how far I 
may be enabled to publish the rest of the fascinating sketches com- 
menced in this volume, as well as the MSS. above referred to, the 
merits of which will be sufficiently well understood by the readers of 
"Art Magic," when I add that it treats of and enlarges upon the same 
subjects as those contained in that extraordinary work. 

Life is short, but its responsibilities are to my mind continued through- 
out eternity; were it not so, the harassing cares, duties, and burdens which 
belong to the editorship of works so startling and revolutionary as those 

put forth by the Chevalier de B would never be assumed or endured 

by his friend and the world's faithful worker, 

Emma Hardinge Britten, 

EcL Ghost Land. 



